Travis Marmon
Sports Editor
Multiple turnovers and a defensive breakdown in the second half was too much for the Wooster football team to overcome on Saturday, as its late comeback fell short at Denison University. The Big Red kept the Old Red Lantern in Granville, Ohio for a second straight year, winning 30-22.
Denison opened the scoring at the end of a relatively uneventful first quarter, driving from its own goal line to do so. The key play on the drive came when quarterback Max Paulus found Braden Layer on a 54-yard pass to get into Wooster territory. The Big Red got down to the 10-yard line, but settled for a field goal to go ahead 3-0.
The Scots got on the scoreboard midway through the second quarter. A 25-yard pass from Richard Barnes ’14 to Jordan McIntyre ’13 was followed by two consecutive Denison personal fouls to put Wooster in scoring position. Jimmy Tomcufcik ’14 carried the ball to the five-yard line, and two plays later, Barnes rushed for a touchdown to give the Scots a 7-3 lead. Lenard Rivers intercepted Denison’s last pass before the half in the endzone.
The second half went very differently for Wooster. Following a long punt return, the Big Red took advantage of good field position to regain the lead. Paulus hit Layer again for a 21-yard touchdown to give his team a 10-7 lead on the Scots.
On the second play of the ensuing drive, McIntyre fumbled the ball away after a 17-yard carry to give Denison possession again. Paulus completed another long touchdown strike, this time on a 49-yard pass to DuShawn Brown to increase their lead to 17-7.
The Scots drove to Denison’s 35-yard line on the next drive, but turned the ball over on downs after four consecutive incompletions. The Big Red used the ground game to get the better of Wooster this time, grinding their way for 65 yards on 17 plays. Running back Sam Fioroni carried the ball on 12 of those plays, including a three-yard touchdown run to put his team up 24-7 early in the fourth quarter.
Wooster went three-and-out on the next drive, and Denison blocked the Scots’ punt to get the ball just outside of the red zone. A Wooster personal foul on third down put the Big Red on the eight-yard line. From there, Paulus completed another touchdown to Layer. Despite missing the extra point, Denison still led 30-7.
With just over seven minutes to go, the Scots’ sense of urgency began to show. Barnes put together a 76-yard drive in less than three minutes, culminating in a nine-yard touchdown pass to McIntyre and a two-point conversion throw to Zack Weidrick ’13.
Denison recovered Wooster’s onside kick, but was quickly forced to punt. Brett Frongillo ’14 was inserted at quarterback and completed four out of six passes, including a 48-yard touchdown toss to Adam Coppock ’16. The score narrowed the deficit to 30-22 with less than two minutes left to play.
After the onside kick attempt went out of bounds, the Scots used all three of their timeouts while stopping the Big Red. Frongillo drove the team down to Denison’s 48-yard line, but was sacked on the final play.
The loss dropped Wooster to 1-3 (0-2 NCAC). They hope to recover in a non-conference matchup against Case Western Reserve University tomorrow in Cleveland.