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| Jesse Lane |
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| Vinnie Congedo |
The College of Wooster scored touchdowns on three of its first four offensive possessions, jumping out to a 21-0 lead over Hiram College and stayed ahead by at least 14 points the rest of the way en route to a 38-24 North Coast Athletic Conference victory at Charles A. Henry Field in Hiram, Ohio.
Wooster (2-1, 2-0 NCAC), under first-year head coach Frank Colaprete, has already equaled its win total from all of last season, and is one of just three conference teams off to a 2-0 start.
For the second consecutive week an early turnover by the opposition, this time Vinnie Congedo intercepting a pass on Hiram's (2-2, 1-2 NCAC) third play from scrimmage, was followed by a Scot touchdown. Three long pass plays accounting for 59 yards keyed the six-play, 65-yard drive, including a 29-yard score from Richard Barnes to Darrian Owens. It marked the freshman receiver's third touchdown already.
After the two teams exchanged punts, Wooster's offense put together a quick four-play, 69-yard series. A Barnes-to-Owens pass covered 53 yards, then three plays later, Barnes connected with Justin Rice in the end zone for a five-yard touchdown and 14-0 lead near the end of the first quarter.
The Scots kept the momentum going, as their defense recovered a fumble on the second play of the second quarter. Then, Barnes drove them 47 yards, with the senior quarterback finishing the seven-play possession on a 17-yard scoring run to the right side for a three-score lead.
The Terriers struck for a big play – a 71-yard Richard Simpson touchdown reception from George Blake – midway through the quarter, but Wooster responded with a seven-play, 67-yard touchdown march, with the Barnes-to-Rice combination, this time from 10 yards out, pushing the lead to 21 again. It was Rice's fifth touchdown reception of the season on just his seventh catch at the time.
The score remained 28-7 until Simpson got free again, a 57-yard catch-and-run for a touchdown in the middle of the third quarter.
Hiram had a couple of chances to pull closer, but the Scots' defense held their ground each time, forcing a change of possession on a 4th-and-5 from the Wooster 36 and then on a 4th-and-1 from the Hiram 40.
The Scots turned the latter turnover on downs into a Zack Moore 31-yard field goal, as they went up by three scores (31-14) at the 9:08 mark of the fourth quarter. It marked Moore's first career field goal, as the sophomore recently was promoted to starting placekicker.
The Terriers got the field goal back on the next possession (31-17), only to see Wooster answer with an eight-play, 82-yard drive. After gaining two first downs, Sean Hackel found a hole, and 48 yards later, the junior running back was in the end zone with the game-clinching touchdown.
Overall, the Scots reached the 500-yard mark in total offense (546) for the second-straight week, about 100 more than Hiram (450).
After going for a career-high in rushing (113) a week ago, Barnes threw for a career-best 343 yards while completing 25-of-34 passes during another turnover-free performance. Rice had the most receptions (7 for 59 yards), Owens the most receiving yards (137 on five catches), and Jesse Lane added a breakout game with six receptions and 94 yards.
Hackel recorded his third 100-yard rushing game in as many starts as Wooster's starting running back, totaling 151 on 27 carries.
For the Terriers, Blake was 20-of-35 for a career-high 357 passing yards, with Simpson (134) and Nate Eaton (106) tallying 100-yard receiving games, and Dillon Headrick leading their rushing attack with 63 yards on 19 attempts.
Next Saturday, the Scots host No. 19 ranked Wabash College (3-0, 2-0 NCAC) at 1 p.m.