Fighting Scots Fall 28-14 in Baird Brothers Trophy Game

The College of Wooster was within 21-14 during the fourth quarter and appeared to be getting the ball in good field position, however, a roughing-the-punter penalty extended a Case Western Reserve drive and the Spartans took advantage, going on to score a touchdown, which turned out to be the final points of their 28-14 win Saturday at Case Field in Cleveland, Ohio.

Case Western Reserve (7-0), in extending its regular season winning streak to 38 games, takes the Baird Brothers Trophy for a fourth year in a row in this annual rivalry game between the northeast Ohio foes.

Wooster (3-4) had scored the lone points of the third quarter – a two-yard touchdown rush by quarterback Richard Barnes – and was winning the field position battle as punter Dana Obery pinned the Spartans at their own one-yard line on the second play of the fourth quarter. Case Western Reserve then gained one first down, but was forced to punt from its own nine and Taylor Trout fair caught the ball right around midfield, however, the play was nullified due to the aforementioned penalty.

Given a second life on that possession, the Spartans proceeded to march the length of the field, with Shaun Nicely getting free in the back of the end zone for a five-yard touchdown reception from Joey Baum to cap the 17-play, 99-yard drive. That made it a 14-point margin with just 6:50 remaining and the Scots were unable to threaten again offensively.

Case Western Reserve scored the game's first 14 points, both on a pair of fade routes to Zach Homyk as he caught one- and eight-yard touchdowns from Baum in the first and second quarter, respectively.

Wooster answered the second with a 10-play, 60-yard touchdown march of its own. Most of the work was done through the air, as Barnes completed 6-of-8 passes for 39 yards during the series, capped by a six-yarder to Joe Stoffer. It marked the first career touchdown for the freshman wide receiver.

After each defense forced a three-and-out, the Spartans struck again. Baum and Nicely hooked up for the first time via a 24-yard touchdown pass to cap a quick five-play, 41-yard drive, and the score stood 21-7 at halftime.

Barnes took the Scots right down the field at the start of the third with a time-consuming possession, consisting of 18 plays and 64 yards and taking 7:49 off the clock. Wooster converted three third downs and two fourth downs, a 4th-and-8 when Barnes found Mike Redick for nine yards and a 4th-and-goal when Barnes took it himself on an option for the score.

The Scots would convert two more third-down plays on their next series, while gaining 46 yards and giving Obery the opportunity to put Case Western Reserve's backs to the wall.

Overall, Barnes was fairly efficient again, completing 24-of-35 passes for 159 yards and contributing 35 more on the ground. He hit Redick six times through the air for 59 yards, the latter giving the senior wide receiver a milestone as he became the 13th in school history with 1,000 career receiving yards.

For the Spartans, Baum was 22-for-32 for 194 yards, with Homyk being his favorite target as he was on the receiving end of nine passes for an even 100 yards.

Also noteworthy for Wooster, senior linebacker Eric Keyes had a career game with 17 tackles as well as a forced fumble.

The Scots return to North Coast Athletic Conference play next Saturday when they host Hiram College (1-6, 1-3 NCAC) for the first of three-straight league home games to close the regular season.