Wooster Rolls Past Oberlin 52-7 on "Senior Day"

WOOSTER, Ohio – The College of Wooster scored two touchdowns just 24 seconds apart late in the second quarter to blow open its "Senior Day" game with Oberlin College, and the Fighting Scots cruised from there to a 52-7 North Coast Athletic Conference victory at John P. Papp Stadium Saturday afternoon.

The game had been close for most of the first half, as Oberlin (1-8, 1-5 NCAC) was looking to pull within a touchdown when Dan Terhune broke through the line to smother a field goal attempt and Hector Clavijo scooped the ball up and rumbled 75 yards for a touchdown and 24-7 lead for Wooster (5-4, 4-2 NCAC) with 1:17 remaining.

On the Yeomen's ensuing series, the Scots' Taylor Trout intercepted his third pass of the year, setting up the offense at the Oberlin 29-yard line. One play later, Robert Flagg took the handoff, somehow escaped the grasp of a defender who had hold of his jersey, and sprinted into the end zone, as Wooster turned a potential 17-10 game into a 31-7 cushion in the span of 24 seconds.

The Scots carried that momentum over to the third quarter, scoring on their first two possessions. Austin Holter closed an 11-play, 66-yard drive by faking out the Yeomen defense and taking it in himself untouched from seven yards away. He also completed passes of 16 and 12 yards to convert long 3rd-down plays en route to the score.

Holter would add a second rushing touchdown on a nearly identical play fake, this time from 17 yards out later in the quarter, finishing a seven-play, 62-yard drive and putting Wooster up 45-7.

With the big lead, the Scots were able to celebrate "Senior Day," during the fourth quarter, highlighted by a 53-yard pass from Chad Parker to Will Hansen. For Parker, a four-year player who was Holter's back-up for the last three seasons, it marked the first career touchdown pass, and it also marked the first career touchdown reception for Hansen, another senior.

Earlier, another senior, tight end Jon Mathis, caught his first career touchdown pass, a 12-yarder from Holter to break a 7-7 tie in the second quarter.

For the game, Wooster racked up a season-high 515 yards of total offense, including 322 rushing, also a season high. Flagg led the way with 134 yards on just 12 rushes, an average of 11.2 yards, while senior Orlando Jones chipped in a career-high 91 yards, also on 12 attempts. Also of note, Kyle Murdock scored the game's first touchdown on a two-yard carry.

Holter, who added 60 rushing yards, was 12-of-24 through the air for 133 yards. The 12 completions gave him a school-record 177 for the season, surpassing John Ramsier's 1992 mark of 176. Yet another senior, Luke McCann, led the squad in receiving with four for 59 yards.

For Oberlin, Adam Lowther ran the ball well, tallying 83 yards, including a 40-yard score late in the first quarter. David Kalgren completed 15-of-30 pass attempts for 162 yards and recorded another 73 stripes on the ground.

The Scots will close out their 2009 campaign with a road trip to arch-rival Wittenberg University (9-0, 6-0 NCAC) next Saturday.