DuShawn Brown broke Denison's single-game record for receiving yards and tied the school record with three touchdown catches, helping the Big Red defeat The College of Wooster, 38-24, in the 20th Battle for the Old Red Lantern.
On Sept. 27 in Denison's win over Ohio Wesleyan, Brown was phenomenal, catching 11 passes for 225 yards and two scores. He finished six yards shy of Denison's single-game record. It became evident early on that Brown was on the verge of another big night.
He caught a 76-yard scoring strike from Brandon Sklenar with 7:57 to play in the first quarter and would reach pay dirt on passes of 15 yards and 3 yards later in the game to open up a 35-10 lead for DU late in the third quarter. On Brown's 3-yard TD catch he broke the single-game record of 231 yards that was set by Josh Jirgens in 2001. He also joined five other players in Denison history who have recorded three touchdown catches in a game.
Thirteen of Sklenar's 19 completions went to Brown. He finished the game with 13 catches for 272 yards and three touchdowns. Sklenar passed for 356 yards and four touchdown passes. He also rushed for 90 yards off 11 carries. With 2:53 to play in the first quarter, Sklenar turned the corner on a quarterback keeper and won the footrace against the Wooster defense. His 63-yard run was the longest rush from scrimmage since Sam Fioroni went for 63-yards against Ohio Wesleyan in 2012.
Sklenar's 446 yards of total offense matches his career-high set earlier this season at Hiram.
Another record fell on Denison's final scoring play as senior placekicker Matt Puracchio booted a 32-yard field goal to put Denison up 38-10. That made him Denison's career leader with 22 field goals made.
The Denison defense allowed only 10 points and 259 yards of total offense through the first three quarters. In the fourth, with Denison leading by as many as 28 points, Wooster would add 129 yards and two touchdowns. Andrew Baird led the way with eight tackles. Anthony Sernusfinished with seven stops and one half sack, while sophomore cornerback Joel Lohoua posted six tackles and a sack.
Freshman defensive end Zach Neufeld sacked Wooster quarterback Richard Barnes twice.
Denison improves to 3-4 with the win and moves to 2-4 in North Coast Athletic Conference play while Wooster drops to 3-4 overall and 3-3 in the NCAC.
BACKGROUND BEHIND THE OLD RED LANTERN: The tradition began in 1989, when the two schools were commemorating the 100th anniversary of their first meeting on the football field (Nov. 23, 1889). The lantern represents the railroad light the teams used to travel by in their early meetings at the turn of the century. This marked the 83rd meeting in the all-time series between DU and Wooster and the 20th time the two colleges have played for the lantern.