Posted: Oct 16, 2023
The College of Wooster football team (2-4, 1-3 North Coast Athletic Conference) looks to bounce back and reclaim the Old Red Lantern in the process this Saturday, when the Fighting Scots visit Denison University (4-3, 3-2 NCAC) for a 3 p.m. game at Deeds Field-Piper Stadium. Wooster is coming off a 53-7 loss to NCAC frontrunning DePauw University (7-0, 5-0 NCAC), which remains the top team outside the top-25 in D3football.com's Top-25 Poll. Denison knocked off Wabash College (4-2, 3-1 NCAC) 28-24 last Saturday. Denison will be collecting donations at the gate for its Mission 34 Mental Health Awareness Game and both teams will be wearing green accessories as part of their uniform in support of Mission 34.
On The Air: Denison will provide a livestream of Saturday's contest at https://northcoastnetwork.com/denison/. Q Media Wooster will carry the game on WKVX 960 AM and online at https://wqkt.com/.
All-Time Series: Denison leads the all-time series 43-40-7, and the Big Red are 15-11-1 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 a nine-game lead (20-11-1) in the series since the NCAC was formed, and the Big Red have won eight 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 in Series: Denison rode its bruising ground game to a 28-14 win over Wooster on November 5, 2022, at John P. Papp Stadium. Senior Langston Williams (New York, N.Y./Xavier) picked off Denison quarterback Drew Dawkins in the end zone on the Big Red's opening drive in what marked a rare downfield shot by the visitors. Wooster took its shot two plays later, and then-sophomore Brazos Gadler (Houston, Texas/Cypress Creek) sprinted past the Big Red for a 62-yard touchdown reception. Denison's slow ground-and-pound approach saw Trey Fabrocini carry the ball 39 times for 223 yards and three touchdowns. He averaged 5.7 yards per carry.
Offense Notes: Wooster has scored points on 91.3 percent of its drives that have reached the red zone this fall, with that ranking tops within the NCAC and 18th nationally. A hallmark of Wooster's offense in recent seasons has been to spread the wealth in the passing game. First-year Jace Austin (Youngstown, Ohio/Chaney) became the sixth player on Wooster's team to reach 10 receptions on the year. Sophomore Jordan Lewis (Akron, Ohio/Cuyahoga Valley Christian Academy) is just two receptions shy of joining that group. Five Wooster players are averaging over 10 yards per reception, with Lewis' 26.1 yards per catch leading the way. Sophomore Tate Journell (Northfield, Minn./Northfield) is next with 19.3 yards per reception and Gadler is at 19.1 yards per catch. Sophomore Chanden Lee (Barberton, Ohio/Barberton) is just shy of 1,500 yards passing on the year.
Defense Notes: Sophomore Brock Sivon (Perry, Ohio/Perry) ranks 11th in the NCAC with 7.3 tackles per contest. His 4.2 solo tackler per Saturday are the third-most within the conference. Sivon is coming off a career-day, where he made 16 tackles. DePauw's 380 yards of total offense were the fewest allowed by Wooster's defense this season. Junior Jon Banal (Columbus Grove, Ohio/Columbus Grove) is second league-wide and in the top-55 nationally with 1.5 tackles-for-loss per game. Banal is just behind Ohio Wesleyan University's Marquel Henry for the conference lead. Henry is at 1.6 tackles-for-loss per game.
Special Teams Notes: Thanks to his success as a kickoff returner, Gadler ranks 15th nationally and tops in the NCAC with 152 all-purpose yards per game. The junior's 397 kickoff return yards are the second-most in the conference and within the top-35 nationally. Gadler's success has the Scots positioned 50th nationally with 21.83 yards per return. Wooster is one of three teams in the NCAC with a kickoff returned for a touchdown this fall. That came from first-year Kieran Klingsberg (Fullerton, Calif./Troy) back in the season opener at Wilmington College.