Sep 25, 2010
CRAWFORDSVILLE, Ind. - A spirited and huge Homecoming crowd along with special teams play got Wabash off to a fast start against the University of Chicago Saturday as the Little Giants improved to 3-0 with a 31-14 win.
See more photos from game action here and here.
Just like a week ago at Ohio
Wesleyan it was a blocked punt that opened things up for Wabash.
Sam Smith blocked a Maroon punt on the Chicago 39-yard line then
freshman Jonathon Koop picked it up and raced 12 yards for the
early Wabash lead, 7-0
On Chicago's next
possession it was James Parnell picking off Maroon quarterback
Kevin Shelton at the UC 33. That turnover resulted in
a Spencer Whitehead 42-yard field goal, the longest of his
career, 10-0.
"I would say it really was
just business as usual," Whitehead said. "Everybody
blocked well. (Kyle) Grand had the snap and (Josh) Miracle had a
good hold. I just put a punctuation point on it."
Coach Erik Raeburn had plenty of
praise after the game for his special teams creating turnovers and
Whitehead's field goal efforts and consistently deep
kickoffs.
"Those guys doing a great
job," Raeburn said. He singled out Smith, Koop, and Kyle
Najar for their efforts the past two week. "I thought our
kickoff coverage was excellent and Spencer has been doing a great
job with his kickoffs."
Whitehead has had a very
consistent to start to the 2010 season that he credits to the
"Three Amigos." He had a chance to quickly set a
new personal best with a 46 yard attempt that fell just short.
"I was actually on the ground so I didn't know what
exactly happened," the senior kicker said. "I
didn't draw a penalty but everyone told me it was straight
but just a little bit short."
The defense was strong, special teams were great and the Little
Giants didn't hurt themselves with penalties as they did a
week ago. The only real dark spot was four lost fumbles. But
overall, Coach Raeburn was pleased with improvement he saw in Week
3.
"I'm real proud of
how we played on defense," he said. "I decided to put
our second team defense in (during the fourth quarter), and that
was my decision. "We missed a tackle or we would have had
them stopped so we gave up a drive. I am disappointed; I
should have left the starting defense in one more series. But I
thought our defense played excellent all game. I really was
impressed with Chicago's offense on film. Our kids stepped up
real big this week.
"We're still
careless with the football and turned it over too many times
but I thought this was best game of season so
far."
Wabash picked up another first
quarter score on Chase Belton's 21-yard run. The sophomore
quarterback led the Little Giants with 87 net rushing yards. He hit
on 11-of-20 passes with one touchdown and no interceptions.
Jonathan Horn had a big day with
six catches for 125 yards and a score while freshman James Kraus
continues to turn heads with three catches for 89 yards, one of
those went 65 for a TD.
"They were playing pretty tight man coverage so I made a
double move and Belton threw a great ball," the North Judson
freshman said. "I'm just trying to step up and make
plays."
A lot of eyes have been on
Krause since Wes Chamblee and Kody LeMond went down with early
season injuries. Krause showed great speed in separating himself
from the defender after the catch.
"He's the guy
that's had to go in for Wes," Raeburn said.
"Those guys, Wes and Kody, every time they touch the ball
they're a threat to go the distance. It's hard to lose
that off your offense. So it's big to have some of these
young guys step up and get us some of those types of
plays."
Wabash out-rushed and out-passed
the visitors. The Little Giants had 167 rushing yards to
Chicago's 121. Chicago had 167 through the air to
Wabash's 174.
Defensively, C.J. Gum again led
Wabash with seven tackles. J.D. McClintic had his biggest day of
the year with six tackles and two sacks.
"We were way more
disciplined (than last week), that was the theme in
practice," the senior defensive end said. "We really
tried to focus on getting our keys down and trusting our teammates
on the field. I tried to use a little more quickness today.
I'm usually a little more of a bull rusher but they
were dropping back so hard I just tried to get up the field as fast
as possible."
McClintic said Coach Raeburn has
been making it clear he wanted more penetration from his defensive
line. "He's been harping on us all week," the
Monticello, IN. native said. "And every week he tells us we
need to get back there or he's going to change
something."
Chicago falls to 2-2. Wabash
(3-0) goes back on the road next week to Kenyon. The Lords (0-3)
dropped a 17-10 decision at Carnegie-Mellon.