Wooster 24, Ohio Wesleyan 6
Nov 13, 2004
DELAWARE, Ohio — There’s a reason this year’s North Coast Athletic Conference Cinderella isn’t going to the NCAA Division III playoff ball. It’s because Cinderella couldn’t hang onto the ball Saturday afternoon.Nov 13, 2004
By Ryan Briggs, D3football.com
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Wooster
Several dropped passed and three misplayed shotgun snaps helped doom upstart Ohio Wesleyan against undefeated Wooster as the visiting Fighting Scots earned an NCAC-clinching 24-6 win at Selby Field.
The victory gives Wooster its first-ever outright NCAC title as well as the Scots’ first berth in the NCAA Division III playoffs. It also wraps up Wooster’s first-ever 10-0 regular season.
“I’m just thrilled for this team,” Wooster head coach Mike Schmitz said. “It’s an extraordinary group of guys. The relationships we have are just fantastic. Our coaching staff is outstanding.
“It just feels terrific. It’s hard for me to describe at this point.”
Consensus All-American tailback Tony Sutton became the NCAC’s all-time leading rusher with 5,248 career yards after piling up 208 yards on 37 carries Saturday. His 24-yard touchdown run with 3:51 sealed the Fighting Scots’ victory. But the first 56 minutes of the game were hardly that easy.
Ohio Wesleyan (5-5, 5-2 NCAC) outgained Wooster, 339-323, but scored only once in three goal-to-go situations.
Wooster had taken a 7-0 lead with 2:30 left in the first quarter as quarterback Justin Schafer scored on a two-yard touchdown run on an option keeper. Ohio Wesleyan drove to the Wooster 1. However, the Scots stopped Ohio Wesleyan quarterback Ryan Sir Louis for no gain on first down and stuffed fullback Tony Anderson on second down.
Sir Louis lost a yard on third down and Jason Whitcomb missed a 20-yard field goal, keeping Wooster up 7-0 with 11:36 left in the half.
Ohio Wesleyan did break through five minutes later, though, as Sir Louis fired a nine-yard touchdown pass to Jody Vasileff. However, the Whitcomb missed the extra point and Wooster still led, 7-6. Wooster extended its lead to 10-6 with 1:36 left in the half as wide receiver/kicker Richie McNally drilled a 38-yard field goal.
Ohio Wesleyan’s kick return unit opened the second half with a bang as Tom Thome returned the opening kickoff to the Wooster 46 after receiving the ball on a reverse. But on the second play, the shotgun snap went over Sir Louis’ head and the Bishops were forced to eventually punt for the first of four times in the quarter.
“When you’re playing a great football team, you just simply have to take advantage of every opportunity you have,” Ohio Wesleyan head coach Mike Hollway said. “There were too many dropped balls, too many missed snaps that certainly determined the outcome of the game.”
Ohio Wesleyan’s defense also came up big in the third quarter, forcing three Wooster punts. The Battling Bishops used a variety of fronts and alignments to keep Wooster off-balance.
“It’s sort of their own hybrid,” Schmitz said of the Bishop defense. It’s really a 4-3 base but they have a guy who stands 2-3 yards outside the tight end. Sometimes, they’ll move that guy back so it looks like a 3-5 and other times he’s up and it looks like a 4-3.
“They really work to defend the field, regardless of the formation you’re in. I’m not sure that wasn’t the best defensive team we’ve played all year,” he continued. “That certainly wasn’t the case when they gave up all those yards and points to Olivet.
“But something happened to them because (OWU) is as good and as tough as people we’ve played.”
On the final play of the third quarter, Wooster finally broke through against the Battling Bishops as Schafer fired a 41-yard completion to McNally. Two penalties put Wooster in second-and-25 from the 26 early in the fourth quarter, though.
But Schafer, who was sick overnight before the game, came through again, firing a 26-yard touchdown pass to tight end Mike Vyrostek on a skinny post. McNally’s second PAT pushed the lead to 17-6.
“We fought through some things offensively,” Schmitz said. “I’m just proud of these guys for continuing to fight.”
Ohio Wesleyan continued to fight also. The Bishops drove to the 1 but on first-and-goal, another snap went over Sir Louis’ head and Wooster senior linebacker Bobby Vega recovered at the 7.
“There’s no question that Wooster made plays,” Hollway said. “The thing that troubles me so much is that we aided them.”
After Ohio Wesleyan turned the ball over on downs at its own 24 later in the fourth, Sutton sealed the win with his touchdown run. He also set a new NCAC single-season record with 2,221 all-purpose yards.
But he was quick to deflect credit to the offensive linemen in front of him: center Matt Jackson, guards Jim Wallace and Justin Sloan and tackles Kevin Spragg and Rick Drushal.
“Without them, I don’t have anything,” Sutton said. “It’s always the more ‘flashy’ positions who get the credit but those guys up front work very hard.”
Schafer finished 7-of-16 for 116 yards. McNally caught five passes for 86 yards. Nick Rice led OWU with 61 yards rushing on five carries while Sir Louis added 58 on 15 attempts. Sir Louis completed 15 of 32 attempts for 185 yards. Rice had five catches for 60 yards.
Tim Cline led Wooster with 13 stops while Cisco Clervoix led Ohio Wesleyan with 10 tackles and a sack.