/seasons/2018/contrib/20180901e28cci

Nine Sacks, Six TDs Sends Wabash To Win at Hiram

Wabash ran for three touchdowns and threw for three more in its 41-17 season-opening football win at Hiram College Saturday afternoon. The Little Giant defense racked up nine sacks for losses totaling 39 yards.

The victory extends the Little Giants' (1-0, 1-0 NCAC) winning streak in season openers to 12 games and started the year with a win against a North Coast Athletic Conference opponent.

The nine combined sacks for the Little Giants tied for the fifth-most in a single game, one short of tying for the school record of ten sacks in a game. Byshup Rhodes and Lucas Bucina each tallied two sacks to pace the Wabash defense. The Little Giants limited the Hiram (0-1, 0-1 NCAC) quarterbacks to 17-of-24 passing for 136 yards, matching the host Terriers' rushing yards for a total of 272 yard of offense in the game. Wabash ran for 216 yards and threw for 278.

Junior quarterback Jake Reid completed 18-of-20 passes, connecting on five consecutive passes to open the game in his first start for the Little Giants. His completion percentage of 90 percent tied for fourth on the all-time Wabash single-game record list. Reid led Wabash down the field on the first possession for a six-play scoring drive that ended with an 11-yard touchdown run by Ra'Shawn Jones on a reverse to give the Little Giants a 6-0 lead. Jones found the end zone again in the fourth quarter with an 18-yard reception. He caught five passes for a team-high 139 yards including a single reception for 48 yards.

Fullback Matt Penola scored the second touchdown of the game for Wabash in the second period to answer a 30-yard field goal by Hiram. The senior hauled in a seven-yard pass from Reid to push the Little Giants' lead to 13-3. Ike James added a third score for Wabash in the first half on a four-yard run. The junior tailback carried the football nine time for 107 yards with a long run of 62 yards to set up the TD reception by Jones.

Wabash led 20-3 at halftime, adding to that advantage with a quick four-play, 60-yard drive in the third period that ended with a two-yard touchdown run by Isaac Avant to stretch the lead to 27-3. Avant rushed for 52 yards on 13 carries.

Senior receiver Oliver Page celebrated his return to the Wabash lineup with a nine-yard touchdown reception midway through the third period to extend the Little Giants' lead to 34-3. Page missed the final six games of the 2017 season after suffering a leg injury against Hiram. He caught a team-best six passes for 79 yards.

The Terriers sandwiched Jones' touchdown catch with a pair of touchdowns late in the third and fourth quarters to provide the final scoring differential. Isaiah Jones led Hiram's offense with 113 rushing yards and one touchdown on 14 carries.

The Wabash defense held Hiram starting quarterback Randy Tucker to 13 rushing and 82 passing yards for the game. He threw for 182 yards and one score against the Little Giants in last year's game. Brandon Yeagy led Wabash with six solo tackles and 11 total for the game.  The Little Giants combined for 12 tackles for losses totaling 45 yards, led by 2-1/2 for Bucina accounting for 11 yards of losses.

Wabash opens the home portion of its schedule on Saturday, September 8 in a non-conference contest against the University of Wisconsin-Stevens Point. Kickoff is set for 1 p.m. at Hollett Little Giant Stadium with the annual senior day celebration to take place prior to the start of the game. The Pointers lost at home to John Carroll 45-21 in their Saturday opener.

 

Sep. 4: All times Eastern
6:00 PM
Averett at N.C. Wesleyan
7:00 PM
Brockport at Buffalo State
7:00 PM
Franklin and Marshall at Lebanon Valley
7:00 PM
King's at Wilkes
Video
7:00 PM
Marietta at Westminster (Pa.)
7:00 PM
Hiram at Heidelberg
7:00 PM
Pacific at Howard Payne
7:00 PM
Carroll at UW-Eau Claire
7:00 PM
Greenville at Illinois College
8:00 PM
Trinity (Texas) at Texas Lutheran
Live stats
8:00 PM
Coe at Cornell
8:00 PM
Millsaps at Belhaven
Sep. 5: All times Eastern
6:00 PM
Montclair State at Merchant Marine
6:00 PM
Concordia (Wis.) at Thiel
6:00 PM
Bridgewater State at Curry
Live stats
6:00 PM
Dickinson at Randolph-Macon
6:00 PM
Albright at Gallaudet
7:00 PM
Hobart at Alfred
Video Live stats
7:00 PM
Moravian at Muhlenberg
7:00 PM
Juniata at Gettysburg
7:00 PM
Dean at Fitchburg State
Video Live stats
7:00 PM
SUNY-Maritime at Massachusetts Maritime
Live stats
7:00 PM
Norwich at St. Lawrence
Video Live stats
7:00 PM
McDaniel at Catholic
Video
7:30 PM
Ursinus at Alvernia
Live stats
Sep. 6: All times Eastern
12:00 PM
Nichols at MIT
Video Live stats
12:00 PM
Plymouth State at New England College
12:00 PM
TCNJ at Lycoming
Video
12:00 PM
Misericordia at Endicott
Video Live stats
12:00 PM
Olivet at Rochester
12:00 PM
St. John Fisher at FDU-Florham
12:00 PM
Grove City at Cortland
12:00 PM
Union at Susquehanna
Video
12:00 PM
Johns Hopkins at Ithaca
12:00 PM
Utica at Washington and Jefferson
12:00 PM
Calvin at Oberlin
12:00 PM
Hampden-Sydney at Delaware Valley
12:00 PM
Morrisville State at Kean
12:00 PM
Ohio Wesleyan at Otterbein
12:00 PM
Maine Maritime at Hartwick
12:00 PM
Anna Maria at Eastern
Video Live stats
12:00 PM
Husson at Framingham State
Live stats
12:00 PM
Mass-Dartmouth at Salve Regina
12:00 PM
Minnesota-Morris at Concordia-Chicago
1:00 PM
Geneva at Widener
1:00 PM
Case Western Reserve at Rowan
1:00 PM
Coast Guard at University of New England
1:00 PM
John Carroll at Waynesburg
1:00 PM
Alfred State at Anderson
Live stats
1:00 PM
Salisbury at Washington and Lee
1:00 PM
Ky. Christian at Brevard
1:00 PM
Trine at Christopher Newport
1:00 PM
Apprentice at Southern Virginia
1:00 PM
Methodist at Shenandoah
1:00 PM
Hilbert at St. Vincent
1:00 PM
Sewanee at Bethany
Video Live stats
1:00 PM
Springfield at Western New England
1:00 PM
Castleton at Westfield State
1:00 PM
Carnegie Mellon at Chicago
1:00 PM
Alma at UW-River Falls
1:00 PM
Maryville (Tenn.) at Hendrix
1:30 PM
Ohio Northern at Franklin
Live stats
1:30 PM
Wheaton (Ill.) at Mount Union
2:00 PM
Baldwin Wallace at Wittenberg
Live stats
2:00 PM
Denison at Allegheny
Video Live stats
2:00 PM
Crown at Hamline
2:00 PM
Martin Luther at Lawrence
2:00 PM
Macalester at Grinnell
2:00 PM
Buena Vista at Benedictine
2:00 PM
Hope at Loras
2:00 PM
Central at Illinois Wesleyan
2:00 PM
Wabash at St. Norbert
2:00 PM
Albion at UW-Stevens Point
2:00 PM
Augsburg at Valley City State
2:00 PM
Carleton at UW-Whitewater
2:00 PM
Millikin at Luther
2:00 PM
UW-Platteville at Aurora
Video Live stats
2:00 PM
Beloit at Rockford
2:00 PM
Dubuque at UW-Stout
2:00 PM
Westminster (Mo.) at Manchester
2:00 PM
Northwestern (Minn.) at St. Olaf
2:00 PM
St. Scholastica at Wisconsin Lutheran
3:00 PM
Pomona-Pitzer at Willamette
Video Live stats
4:00 PM
UW-Oshkosh at Linfield
4:00 PM
Gustavus Adolphus at Whitworth
4:00 PM
Lewis and Clark at Puget Sound
4:00 PM
Pacific Lutheran at Cal Lutheran
5:00 PM
William Paterson at Western Connecticut
6:00 PM
RPI at WPI
Live stats
6:00 PM
Wooster at Wilmington
6:00 PM
Huntingdon at Berry
7:00 PM
Mount St. Joseph at Muskingum
Live stats
7:00 PM
Kenyon at Bluffton
7:00 PM
DePauw at Rose-Hulman
7:00 PM
Hanover at Centre
7:00 PM
Greensboro at Guilford
7:00 PM
Stevenson at Bridgewater
7:00 PM
Knox at Eureka
7:00 PM
Bethel (Tenn.) at Mary Hardin-Baylor
7:00 PM
Augustana at Simpson
Video Live stats
7:00 PM
Carthage at Lakeland
7:00 PM
North Park at Ripon
7:00 PM
Adrian at Valparaiso
7:00 PM
Kalamazoo at Austin
7:00 PM
Southwestern at McMurry
8:00 PM
LaGrange at Point
8:00 PM
Mayville St. at Concordia-Moorhead
Video Live stats
8:00 PM
Monmouth at Wartburg
8:00 PM
Rhodes at Washington U.
8:00 PM
Nebraska Wesleyan at Dakota St.
8:00 PM
Lyon at East Texas Baptist
9:00 PM
Claremont-Mudd-Scripps at Lake Forest
@ Chandler, Ariz.
10:00 PM
Hardin-Simmons at Chapman
10:00 PM
George Fox at Redlands
Maintenance in progress.