CRAWFORDSVILLE, Ind. – Junior Matt Pardi handled a high snap to perfection, then booted a 55-yard punt to Wabash College's 20-yard line, and classmate Matt Ulishney broke up the Little Giants' Hail Mary pass at The College of Wooster's 5-yard line, as the Fighting Scots knocked off the Little Giants 44-41 in an absolute thriller on Saturday afternoon at Little Giant Stadium.
Wooster (4-2, 3-2 North Coast Athletic Conference) junior Lake Barrett knocked the 19-yard go-ahead field goal through the uprights with 5:29 remaining, and then Wabash (5-1, 4-1 NCAC) moved into potential devastating heartbreak territory, reaching the Scots' 22-yard line with about 1:30 remaining. The Little Giants' Liam Thompson could not connect with an open Derek Allen on the second-down snap, then Scots' junior Dorion Talley stepped in with a third-down breakup, setting the stage for a game-tying field goal try. Jacob Handley was on the mark from 39 yards out, only to have to retry, thanks to Wooster head coach Frank Colaprete sneaking in a timeout just before the snap went off. Handley sent the retry wide left, giving Wooster the ball with :51 to go.
A three-and-out, plus having timeouts in its pocket, gave Wabash a chance, and the Little Giants advanced the ball to their 48-yard line after Pardi's 55-yard punt. That enabled Thompson to launch up a prayer as time expired.
Sophomore Carter Warstler's spark lifted Wooster in a huge way. After Wabash tied the game at 27 in the third quarter, Warstler received the ensuing kickoff at Wooster's 2-yard line, cut left between the hashes just before the 20, tiptoed down the sideline near midfield, and then sprinted past the last line of the coverage for a school-record 98-yard kickoff return. Of note, Warstler's kickoff return is a yard longer than alumnus Cam Pollard's 97-yard touchdown run back at Hiram College in 2017, and it is tied for the fourth-longest in NCAA Div. III this fall.
Later, Warstler hauled in a 27-yard touchdown pass while heavily contested in the corner of the end zone. That play, which opened the fourth quarter, coupled with Barrett's extra point, made it a 41-34 game with 14:55 remaining.
Thompson's 11-yard scramble, plus Handley's extra point, tied the game at 41 with 10:16 remaining. Later, Joey Annee's miscue while punting resulted in an 8-yard boot that set Wooster's go-ahead drive up at Wabash's 29-yard line.
Both teams scored on their opening possession in a game that featured 1,144 yards of total offense. Wooster's score came from first-year Bryant Douglas II, who caught a 6-yard pass from senior Mateo Renteria. Renteria scampered in from 15 yards out at the 12:30 mark of the second quarter to give Wooster its first lead of the day. The Scots went up 10 on the Little Giants twice before halftime, first when sophomore Mitchell Heilman sprung free from his defender for a 38-yard touchdown reception, and then when junior Andrew Yanssens extended just enough to get across the goal line on a 1-yard stretch.
Renteria played his best collegiate game, completing 28-of-41 passes for a career-high 408 yards, a total that rates sixth in the program annals. His completions are tied for the eighth-most in program history and one off a career-best. Thanks to three touchdowns, Renteria upped his career total to 45, and he is now in the top-five at Wooster in that category.
Seven receivers caught at least one pass, including senior tight end Cole Hissong, who logged his third 100-yard game over the last four contests. Heilman also hit 100 stripes on the day, while Warstler finished just shy of 100 with 92 yards on five receptions. Yanssens did the heavy lifting on the ground, toting the ball 21 times for 32 yards.
Wooster tallied 99 tackles on the day, 18 of which came from senior Beau Greenwood. Junior Langston Williams added 12 in his first official collegiate start, and while he did not lead the team in tackles for the first time this year, senior Angelo Petracci did have a fine showing with 11 stops. Sophomore Andrew Armile turned in Wooster's lone sack of the day, and Talley was responsible for two of the Scots' six pass breakups.
Other stats to note include a 55.5 per-punt average by Pardi, who had a decisive edge compared to Annee's 35.5 average, in a matchup of the top two punters in the conference.
Wabash's Donovan Snyder rushed for 220 yards on 34 carries, and Cade Campbell added 104 on nine totes. In all, Wabash rushed for 391 yards, and averaged 7.1 yards per carry.
Thompson completed 25-of-46 passes for 279 yards and three touchdowns. Cooper Sullivan was the go-to target with nine receptions, 101 yards, and all three passing scores.
Joe Rios led Wabash in tackles at 12.
Wabash finished with 670 yards of total offense and Wooster had 474.
Notable, Wooster is the first team to score 40 points on Wabash at Little Giant Stadium since Wheaton College (Ill.) dropped 59 in the second round of the 2008 NCAA Div. III Championships. The win marks Wooster's second-ever on the road in series history, with the other coming in 2004.
Next, Wooster's off to Denison University (4-2, 4-1 NCAC) for a 3 p.m. game on Saturday, October 23.