Football drops two more
Travis Marmon
Sports Editor
The Wooster football team continued its losing skid over the past two weeks, falling on the road to Washington University of St. Louis on Oct. 15 and losing their final home game against Case Western Reserve University last Saturday.
The Scots (2-5, 1-2 NCAC) put forth a valiant effort in both games only to come up short. Against Washington-St. Louis (3-3), Wooster found itself trailing 17-0 in the first quarter. After the Bears kicked a field goal to open up the scoring, Jordan McIntyre ’13 fumbled on the ensuing kickoff, and the ball was scooped up and returned for a touchdown by Washington to make it 10-0.
Washington forced another McIntyre fumble on the next offensive series, which led to another touchdown for the Bears.
In the second quarter, McIntyre made up for his earlier errors by hauling in a pass from Brett Frongillo ’14 and taking it 64 yards to Washington’s one-yard line. Frongillo punched it in on the next play to narrow the gap to 17-7. Nick Jacubec ’14 intercepted a pass on the following drive, but the Scots were unable to capitalize.
Wooster stopped the Bears on fourth down from the Scots’ 46-yard line with two minutes left in the first half. Frongillo then connected on a 54-yard touchdown pass to Zack Weidrick ’13 to make it 17-14.
Both teams were scoreless in the third quarter, but the Bears opened the final period on Wooster’s one-yard line and Trevor LaBarge ran the ball in to increase their lead to 24-14.
The Scots countered with an 83-yard drive culminating in a 10-yard touchdown pass from Frongillo to Cameron Daniels ’12. The extra point was blocked, however, keeping Wooster down 24-20 and ensuring that they needed to score another touchdown rather than tie the game with a field goal.
The Scots forced a punt on Wahington’s next drive, but it was downed at the one-yard line. Wooster managed to get out to its own 40-yard line, but Frongillo’s fourth-down pass was broken up and the Bears ran the clock down for a victory.
Wooster had a similarly tight battle at John P. Papp Stadium against Case Western Reserve (6-1), in a game that eventually went into overtime. This time, however, the Scots were the ones struggling to maintain a lead.
Wooster began the scoring with six minutes left in the first quarter, as Frongillo completed a 13-yard pass to Daniels for a touchdown to give the Scots a 7-0 lead early. The Spartans appeared ready to answer, driving down Wooster’s 25-yard line before Brandon James ’15 intercepted a pass in the endzone.
The Scots’ good fortunes were short-lived, as the very first pass of their ensuing drive was picked off by Jacob Adams and returned for a game-tying touchdown.
Wooster recovered with a 12-play, 60-yard drive. Frongillo scored on a one-yard rush to make the game 14-7. The defenses dominated for the rest of the first half, and the score remained the same going into the break.
Case Western began the second half with a methodical 14-play, 70-yard drive that was capped with a five-yard rushing touchdown from quarterback Erik Olson, tying the game at 14.
The Scots went three-and-out on their next drive, and the Spartans went on to drive 72 yards without facing a third down. Olson completed a three-yard touchdown pass to Steven Magister to give Case Western its first lead, 21-14.
Wooster was able to tie the game back up with less than nine minutes left in regulation when Frongillo ran for a 23-yard touchdown on third-and-3.
Each team had the opportunity to kick a game-winning field goal late in the fourth quarter, but both failed.
The Spartans’ Daniel Vasil missed a 37-yarder wide left with just over a minute to play, and Dana Obery ’13 hooked left on a 43-yarder with 20 seconds to go, ending regulation tied at 21.
The Scots had the first possession of overtime, and looked ready to score after Daniels received a pass at the two-yard line. Unfortunately, Case Western forced a fumble from Frongillo on the next play and recovered it. Vasil won the game on the Spartans’ possession with a 31-yard field goal to make it 24-21.
Wooster will travel to Hiram, Ohio tomorrow to take on Hiram College (1-6, 1-2 NCAC) at 7 p.m.