Senior quarterback totals 345 yards of offense, including 116 on the ground

WOOSTER, Ohio – Behind 345 yards of total offense from senior quarterback Austin Holter, including a career-high 116 rushing, The College of Wooster celebrated its Homecoming game with a 26-7 triumph over North Coast Athletic Conference foe Denison University at John P. Papp Stadium Saturday afternoon.

With the victory, Wooster (2-1, 2-0 NCAC) retains the Old Red Lantern – the trophy annually awarded to the winner of this historic rivalry. The Fighting Scots have now defeated Denison (1-2, 0-2 NCAC) in nine consecutive meetings.

The game took place in rain showers, but thanks to the newly-installed synthetic playing surface (Sprinturf), Wooster's offensive unit, which entered ranked among the top-30 in NCAA Div. III in both scoring offense and total offense, was not effected much. The Scots began their second possession pinned inside the 20, but they found the end zone in a mere five plays, keyed by a Holter 32-yard gallop, a short pass in the right flat to Cameron Daniels that ended up going for a 30-yard gain, and a Jordan McIntyre 16-yard scoring run as the freshman found a big hole on the left side for his first career touchdown.

Following the defense's second three-and-out in three Denison drives, Wooster produced an 11-play, 47-yard scoring series, which resulted in a 35-yard field goal by Russ Palm for a 10-0 lead. However, a 25-yard Holter touchdown run was taken off the board during the possession due to a holding penalty.

The Scots' offense would move the ball again, but missed a field goal from 42 yards away and then the Big Red mounted their best offensive possession. Running the ball 11 times on a 14-play, 75-yard drive, Denison eventually scored on a Nick Krempasky five-yard rush to pull within 10-7.

As it approached late in the second quarter, a loud rumble of thunder not only interrupted Wooster's ensuing possession, but the game was delayed for approximately 30 minutes.

The Scots would eventually punt, but thanks to another three-and-out by their defense, keyed by a third-down sack by Chris Wade, the offense would get another shot before the half. From its own 38 with 1:32 remaining, Wooster would move 54 yards in eight plays, highlighted by 20-, 12-, and 19-yard passes to Mike Francescangeli, Mike Redick, and Robert Flagg, respectively. The Scots eventually settled for a 25-yard field goal off the foot of Palm on the last play of the half for a 13-7 advantage.

Wooster started the third quarter with the ball, but came up empty on a 4th-and-3 from the Denison 21. The Scots would get the ball back just two plays later, as Matt DeGrand forced a fumble and freshman Girard Ogletree-Crawford recovered it at the 41-yard line.

From there, Holter hit Logan Dunn down field for a 27-yard gain, and following an incompletion, Holter took it himself around right end for a 14-yard touchdown. The ensuing two-point attempt failed, keeping the score 19-7.

As the rain came down a little heaver, both defenses dominated most of the action in the fourth quarter. Wooster did score late when Redick hauled in a five-yard touchdown reception from Holter with :31 left, capping a seven-play, 42-yard march.

Overall, the Scots outgained the Big Red 391-204, with Holter playing a part in all but 46 yards of Wooster's offense. He completed 21-of-36 for 229 yards and his 116 yards on the ground came on just 14 attempts. Daniels, a tight end, was his top target through the air with four receptions for 46 yards.

Krempasky was the highlight for Denison, as he finished with an even 100 yards on the ground while toting the ball 28 times.

The Scots will look to stay unbeaten in the conference when they travel to Earlham College (2-1, 0-0 NCAC) next Saturday for a 1 p.m. kickoff.