Wooster Football Weekly Release (Oct. 31) | Wooster Football Record Book | Spectator Information
The College of Wooster football team (5-3, 3-3 North Coast Athletic Conference) authored one of the top comebacks in college football, rallying from 26 points down to shock archrival Wittenberg University (4-4, 4-3 NCAC) 44-43 on Saturday. Now, Wooster hopes to reclaim possession of the "Old Red Lantern" from Denison University (6-2, 4-2 NCAC), which visits John P. Papp Stadium for a 1 p.m. contest on Saturday, November 5. Denison was idle last week, and most recently beat Wittenberg 28-10 on October 22.
On The Air: MCTV produces Wooster's home football livestreams, which can be viewed at https://northcoastnetwork.com/Wooster. MCTV customers in Wayne and Stark Counties can catch replays of the game on Ch. 22 and Ch. 621 on Saturday, Sunday, and Monday, and should consult local listings for replay times. Q Media Wooster (WQKT/WKVX) will carry the game on WKVX 960 AM and online at https://wqkt.com.
All-Time Series: Denison leads the all-time series 42-40-7 and the Big Red are 14-11-1 since the "Old Red Lantern" started being presented to the winning team. Wooster logged a 10-game winning streak in the series from 1995-2010, but prior to that, Denison went 10-0-1 from 1984-1994. Denison has an eight-game lead (19-11-1) in the series since the NCAC was formed, and the Big Red have won seven straight. Notable, Wooster's first three varsity intercollegiate games came against Denison, and the Scots shut out the Big Red in all three contests by scores of 48-0 (1889), 50-0 (1889), and 58-0 (1890).
"Old Red Lantern" History: The "Old Red Lantern" trophy started being awarded to the winner of the game in 1989 to commemorate the 100th anniversary of the first meeting between Wooster and Denison. The two teams originally traveled to the games by rail, so the lantern was chosen to represent the series' pastime
Last Meeting: Wooster looked great early with two touchdowns and 175 yards of offense on its first three possessions, plus had a defensive takeaway, but the hot start was not sustained with Denison pulling away from the Scots 52-28 on October 23, 2021 at Deeds Field-Piper Stadium.
Last Time Out: Senior quarterback Mateo Renteria (Houston, Texas/Cypress Creek) escaped pressure twice, then senior tight end Cole Hissong (Shreve, Ohio/Triway) found an opening in front of three Wittenberg defenders in the end zone prior to catching a game-winning 7-yard touchdown pass with :11 remaining, as Wooster mounted a massive comeback to stun Wittenberg 44-43, in a game in which it trailed by 26 points. Senior linebacker Chris Savaglio (Centerport, N.Y./Harborfields) clinched the victory with an interception with :03 remaining at Wittenberg's 42-yard line. The key turning point in the game was when first-year defensive end Q Renteria (Houston, Texas/Cypress Creek) returned a Wittenberg fumble 18 yards for a touchdown in the third quarter, and that was the first of three second-half takeaways by Wooster's defense.
Offense Notes: Wooster now has 17 rushing touchdowns on the year, the most since the Scots had 21 in 2016. Wooster needs three rushing touchdowns over the last two games to get to 20, which would mark just the eighth time since NCAA Div. III was established in 1973 that the Scots get to 20. The Scots' rushing touchdowns are spread out with four players having at least one on the year. Renteria and senior Andrew Yanssens (Columbiana, Ohio/Crestview) have six each, while first-year Jarvis Mims Jr. (Baxley, Ga./Appling County) is third on the team with four. Junior PT Fischer (King, N.C./South Stokes) has Wooster's other rushing touchdown. Renteria is 403 yards shy of 10,000 passing yards for his career and two passing touchdowns shy of 75. Hissong, who caught his 18th career touchdown pass in last Saturday's win, is 46 yards shy of 2,000 for his career. Despite playing tight end, he has the fifth-most receiving yards, the sixth-most receiving touchdowns, and the fifth-most receptions (138) in program history.
Defense Notes: Wooster ranks seventh nationally and tops in the NCAC with 11 fumble recoveries. The Scots trail Div. III-leading Bridgewater College (Virginia), University of Minnesota, Morris, and Ursinus College (Pennsylvania) by two fumble recoveries for the top mark within the division. Wooster's fumble recoveries are spread out among 10 players, with senior defensive tackle Quincy Taylor (McDonough, Ga./Forest Park) becoming the latest Scot to recover one in the second half of last Saturday's win. Senior Matt Ulishney (Greensburg, Pa./Serra District Catholic) has 92 tackles on the year, the most since Mitchell Czerniak's 125 in 2014. Ulishney is looking to become the eighth Scot to hit triple digits in tackles in a season since tackles became an officially-tracked NCAA statistic in 2000. Ulishney's 11.5 tackles per game are the 10th-most in Div. III, and he is second nationally with 7.6 solo stops per game.
Special Teams Notes: Senior Matt Pardi (Arlington, Va./Washington-Liberty) is fourth in Div. III with a 43.8 average per punt, and the NCAC has two of the division's top four punters, with DePauw University's Jack Drake averaging 43.9 yards per punt. Senior Lake Barrett (Columbia, S.C/Hammond School) surpassed 100 career extra-point makes in the Wittenberg win. He is five extra-points shy of making Wooster's single-season top-10 list for the second time. Richie McNally (2002, 2003, 2004) and Ben Arnold (1998, 1999) are the only Scots on the current list multiple times.
This and That: Wooster is in search of its first four-game winning streak since 2013 when the Scots closed the year with wins over Denison (43-21), DePauw (27-24), Kenyon College (24-14), and Ohio Wesleyan University (28-27). Wooster's won its last two games on November 5 with those taking place against Kenyon (31-3, 2011) and Hiram College (42-23, 2016).