Scots Welcome Nationally-Ranked and Rival Spartans for Inaugural Night Game

Another edition of the Baird Brothers Trophy game will take place this Saturday, Oct. 10, but this one has even more hype surrounding it than usual as the annual clash between northeast Ohio foes Case Western Reserve University (4-0) and The College of Wooster (3-1) will mark the first-ever night game at Wooster's recently updated John P. Papp Stadium. This past summer, lights and a new synthetic playing surface (Sprinturf) highlighed the renovations at the 4,500-seat stadium, originally built in 1914. Adding to the excitement, the visiting Spartans enter with a national ranking – No. 10 by D3football.com and No. 11 by the American Football Coaches Association – and a 25-game regular season win streak that began Nov. 11, 2006. Opening kickoff is set for 7 p.m. EDT.

Prior to the game, there will be a ceremony officially dedicating Wooster's new playing surface, Ed and Edie Andrew Turf Field. Ed Andrew, a long-time trustee at the College, and his wife were generous donors to the project. Also, another special guest, former Fighting Scot head coach Jack Lengyel, is scheduled to be in attendance and partake in the ceremonial coin toss. Lengyel guided Wooster to a 24-21 record from 1966-70, including 8-1 his last season, and then went on to resurrect the football program at Marshall University after a plane crash killed most of its team. That story was immortalized in the 2006 movie "We Are Marshall."

On the Air: Wooster's football games can be heard live each week in the Wooster area on WKVX 960 AM or anywhere in the world by following links on the radio station's Web site at http://wkvx.com/.

Also, the audio and video from local cable provider Clear Picture, Inc., will be broadcast live over the Web at no charge to the viewer at http://www.teamline.cc/teampage?teamcode=1100, thanks to an agreement with Clear Picture and a donation from the "W" Association, the school's alumni organization which supports athletics.

Baird Bros. Trophy: One of the most unique trophies, as noted by Sports Illustrated in 1995, in college football rivalry games is presented to the winner of the Case-Wooster game. It is a chain that holds carved brass fish, named the Baird Brothers Trophy after its creators. Bill and Bob Baird were long-time economics professors at Wooster and Case, respectively, and ardent fishermen. The winning team adds a fish, which symbolizes some aspect of how that year's game was played. The tradition began in 1984, and the trophy currently sports a flounder, a carp, a bluegill, a pike, a walleye, a rainbow trout, a catfish, a sturgeon, a sucker, a crappie, a musky, a sheepshead, a gar, a largemouth bass, and a smallmouth bass.

All-Time Series: Since 1984, the Scots are 13-8 against Case. The Spartans had won the Baird Brothers Trophy the first five times only to see Wooster prevail in 13 of the next 14, including a long streak of 10. Case took back the trophy in 2007 for the first time since 1994 with a 30-17 victory and also kept it last fall via a 28-7 win.

Prior to the modern era, the Scots were a frequent opponent from 1902-1945 of both Case Tech and Western Reserve. Case Tech compiled a 26-13-4 advantage over Wooster and the Scots were 9-8-2 versus Western Reserve before the two schools merged into one in 1967.

Last Game: Wooster's defense created turnovers on six of Earlham College's first 11 drives and the Austin Holter (Johnstown, Ohio / Johnstown-Monroe)-led offense took advantage, as the senior quarterback tied a school record with five touchdown passes and he ran for another score en route to a 49-3 North Coast Athletic Conference victory in Richmond, Ind., on Oct. 3.

Though Wooster was dominating statistically early on, the score was just 14-3 with less than three minutes to go in the second quarter and the Scots were punting. Then, the game changed as a roughing-the-kicker penalty on 4th-and-20 gave the offense a second chance, and four plays later, Holter hit Luke McCann (Pittsburgh, Pa. / Keystone Oaks) on a one-yard slant for their first of three touchdown connections on the day.

Leading 21-3, Wooster carried that momentum into the second half, quickly going down the field on the first possession for a seven-play, 81-yard touchdown drive, capped by another short Holter-to-McCann pass (two yards). The Scots would tack on two more scores in the third quarter, with the first coming when a Matt DeGrand (Stow, Ohio / St. Vincent-St. Mary) interception set up a short field and the offense converted it into another short touchdown pass, this time from Holter to tight end Cameron Daniels (Clarksburg, W. Va. / Byrd) from five yards out. Holter's record-tying fifth touchdown pass would be his longest of the day, as he found McCann on a 39-yard throw.

Wooster's final score came from the defense. Taylor Trout (Nashport, Ohio / Tri-Valley) intercepted the ball inside the 10-yard line and took it back the distance for a 94-yard touchdown early in the fourth quarter. The Scots went on to rest their starters the final 11:43.

While Holter equaled a team record with the five touchdown passes, last achieved by Jeff Spraggins against Kenyon College on Sept. 25, 1999, his other numbers were relatively modest. Holter threw for 180 yards while completing 20-of-33 passes, and he netted just three on the ground, which marked his second-lowest rushing total in three years as the starting quarterback.

In addition to the three touchdown receptions, which was a first for a Wooster player since fullback Rob Hooper accomplished the feat against Oberlin College Oct. 12, 2002, McCann tallied career highs with eight receptions for 86 yards.

The Scots' leading rushers were Kyle Murdock (Marysville, Ohio / Marysville) and Robert Flagg (Dunedin, Fla. / Dunedin) with 76 and 75 yards, respectively. They each toted the ball eight times.

Team Award Winners: For his effort (see above), senior wide receiver Luke McCann (Pittsburgh, Pa. / Keystone Oaks) was selected as Wooster's Offensive Player of the Week. The coaching staff also gave the weekly defensive award to sophomore cornerback Taylor Trout (Nashport, Ohio / Tri-Valley), who made the aforementioned 94-yard interception return and five tackles during his first career start, and the special teams' honor went to freshman Paul Kessler (Beaver Falls, Pa. / Blackhawk) as he had three tackles on kickoff coverage. The "Gamebreaker" was shared by Hector Clavijo (Miami, Fla. / Hialeah) and Dan Terhune (Chagrin Falls, Ohio / Orange), who combined for a forced fumble and fumble recovery, respectively, on the first play from scrimmage, setting the tone for the game, while senior right tackle Todd Spillman (Zoar, Ohio / Tuscarawas Valley) won the "Mule" as the team's top offensive lineman.