Allegheny, Wooster Both Looking to Keep NCAC Title Hopes Alive on Halloween

After suffering its first North Coast Athletic Conference loss of 2009, The College of Wooster hopes to bounce back and win its final three regular season games, starting this Saturday, Oct. 31, at Allegheny College (6-1, 3-1 NCAC). If the Fighting Scots win out, then they'll likely gain a share of the league title. No NCAC champ has ever had two conference losses. Allegheny enters the week in the same situation, as the two teams are currently tied for third-place. Opening kickoff at 3,500-seat Frank B. Fuhrer Field in Meadville, Pa., is scheduled for 1 p.m. EDT.

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/.

All-Time Series: Allegheny and Wooster have played 31 times on the gridiron, including every year since the NCAC was formed in 1984. Overall, the Gators lead the series 18-13, but the tide seems to have turned of late, with the Scots winning five of the last seven. Also of note, home-field advantage hasn't meant a lot between these two, as Allegheny only holds a slight 7-6 advantage at Meadville.

Last Game: Wabash College's Kody LeMond tied an NCAC mark with four touchdown receptions, all of them coming after Wooster had taken a 14-10 lead late in the second quarter, and the nationally-ranked Little Giants (No. 18 D3football.com, No. 21 AFCA) held off a Scot rally for a 37-27 victory at John P. Papp Stadium.

When freshman Rob Holtz (Pittsburgh, Pa. / Shaler Area) broke through the line and blocked a punt, which was recovered by teammate Kyle Murdock (Marysville, Ohio / Marysville) in the end zone for a touchdown at the 3:44 mark of the second quarter, Wooster appeared to have all of the momentum. Also playing a big role in that sequence was Dana Obery (South Euclid, Ohio / Brush), whose 48-yard punt four plays earlier was downed inside the one-yard line.

Wabash retook the lead just three plays later, though, on LeMond's first score of the day, covering 53 yards and good for a 17-14 advantage at the halftime break.

LeMond had touchdowns from 14 and 17 yards to account for the only scoring of the third quarter, which gave the Little Giants a 31-14 cushion.

The Scots clawed back into it, with Austin Holter (Johnstown, Ohio / Johnstown-Monroe) directing them 76 yards down the field in just eight plays, capped by a 12-yard touchdown pass to Jordan McIntyre (Steubenville, Ohio / Steubenville). That cut the deficit to 10 (31-21) early in the fourth quarter. Wabash and LeMond would respond as the wideout turned a screen pass into a 30-yard score, however, the Little Giants missed the ensuing point after attempt, which kept Wooster within two scores with 9:08 left.

Later, Matt DeGrand (Stow, Ohio / St. Vincent-St. Mary) strip sacked the quarterback and Chris Aukerman (Rocky River, Ohio / Rocky River) recovered the fumble, and the Scots' offense was back in the end zone seven plays later. Luke McCann (Pittsburgh, Pa. / Keystone Oaks) made a 15-yard sliding touchdown reception from Holter, but a pass on the ensuing two-point try was dropped, essentially sealing the outcome as just 2:12 remained.

Statistically, Holter had another big day, netting a game-high 74 rushing yards and 245 through the air while completing 21-of-43. Robert Flagg (Dunedin, Fla. / Dunedin) played an integral role in the offense with 61 yards on 13 rushes and a team-high five catches for 32 stripes, while McCann had 76 receiving yards, most of which came on a screen play that he took 47 yards for a touchdown during the first quarter.

Holter's Records Watch: Austin Holter (Johnstown, Ohio / Johnstown-Monroe) is quite simply putting together one of the best seasons by a quarterback in Wooster history. Holter is well ahead of pace to reset his own mark for total offense, currently with 2,210 yards, just 502 short of his 2008 number (2,712). Additionally, he already has 151 completions, 1,613 passing yards, and 17 passing touchdowns, which leaves him only 25 completions and 423 yards shy of a couple of John Ramsier school records established in 1992 as well as four touchdown passes shy of Rich Judd's 1997 mark in that category.

In the career portion of the Scots' record book, Holter needs 565 yards of total offense to catch Judd (7,331) and 339 rushing yards to become the first quarterback to hit the 2,000 milestone.

This and That: Saturday will be Allegheny's final regular season home game, and it has won 18 of 19 home finales dating back to 1990 ... Wooster has not played on Halloween since the 1998 season – a close 14-7 loss to perennial power Wittenberg University ... Bryan Albani (Warren, Ohio / Howland) remains on pace to set the school record for kickoff return average, held by Tony Sutton with 31.4 yards in 2004. Albani's rate of 31.9 yards also is third-best in NCAA Div. III, and he also needs just one interception to crack the Scots' top-10 list for a career in that category ... Placekicker Russ Palm (Williamstown, W. Va. / Williamstown) is one short of the team record for field goals made in a season, having gone 9-for-13. Ben Arnold and Richie McNally currently share the mark with 10 in 1997 and 2004, respectively. Senior Mike Francescangeli (Brunswick, Ohio / Brunswick) needs 199 yards to become the 13th in school history to reach 1,000 receiving yards for a career ... Senior linebacker Matt DeGrand (Stow, Ohio / St. Vincent-St. Mary) continues to climb the tackles chart, as his career total of 302 now makes him one of seven in the program to have reached the 300 milestone ... Quinton Howard (Alliance, Ohio / Marlington) was recently moved into the starting lineup at safety. He's listed as the squad's only freshman starter, although Jordan McIntyre (Steubenville, Ohio / Steubenville) has often come out in one of the slot positions for the first offensive snap.