Fighting Scots Aiming to Move Into Top-Half of NCAC Saturday

Steve Custenborder

Despite just winning its first game of the season last week, The College of Wooster can move into the upper half of the North Coast Athletic Conference standings, where it traditionally finishes (fifth-place or better since 1994) this Saturday, Oct. 13, when the Fighting Scots welcome winless Hiram College (0-5, 0-2 NCAC) to John P. Papp Stadium. If Wooster triumphs, then it will be just one of five teams with one league loss or less heading into the final four regular season contests. Opening kickoff against the Terriers is scheduled for 1 p.m. EDT.   

On the Air: Wooster’s football games can be heard live each week in the Wooster area on WKVX 960 AM, or anywhere in the world on the College’s Web site (www.wooster.edu/interactive/). This week’s game will be called by Dan Earich and Ron Hamilton.

Saturday’s game will also be televised on tape delay in Wooster by Clear Picture, Inc. Handling the play-by-play as usual will be Jon Heavlin and Kenny Fisher provides color commentary. It will be aired on Saturday at 4:30 p.m., followed by additional broadcasts on Sunday and Monday at noon and 3 p.m. each day.

All-Time Series: The Scots have dominated the all-time series with Hiram, prevailing in 31 of 35 meetings (31-4). Wooster has won each of the teams’ four games since the Terriers joined the NCAC in 2000 – 52-0 last fall, 59-17 in 2005, 59-0 in 2004, 28-10 in 2001, and 33-14 in 2000.

Fantastic Finishes: John P. Papp Stadium has been the place to be for some of the most exciting games in NCAA Div. III football lately. In each of the last five Wooster home games, the score was either tied or the lead changed hands during the final three minutes. The Scots have won three of those and dropped two.

Last Week: On Oct. 6, Wooster converted on a late 4th-and-8 play, then Dustin Sheppard (Johnstown, Ohio / Johnstown-Monroe) burst through the middle for a 34-yard touchdown on the ensuing play to give the Scots a 13-9 lead over Ohio Wesleyan University with 2:58 remaining, and that would be the final score during the teams’ NCAC battle.

Wooster was facing the prospect of starting a season 0-5 for the first time since 1988, but on the aforementioned 4th-down, quarterback Austin Holter (Johnstown, Ohio / Johnstown-Monroe) found Will Miska (Hillsborough, N.J. / Hillsborough) in the left flat for an 11-yard gain. Also of note, Holter scrambled for 10 yards on the previous play to give the Scots a chance of converting the first down. Next, Sheppard took the handoff, slipped past a couple of would-be tacklers, and made it into the end zone for what turned out to be the game’s lone touchdown. The 34-yard jaunt gave Sheppard 2,000 rushing yards for his career, just the 10th in school history to achieve that feat.

Ohio Wesleyan had two more possessions, but was unable to move into Wooster territory.

On the initial possession of the game, the Scots scored, marching 47 yards over 11 plays before settling for a 19-yard field goal by Andy Milligan (Orrville, Ohio / Orrville). That turned out to be the only points of the opening half.

The other highlight of the first half was a 63-yard punt from Wooster’s Kevin Friedman (Pepper Pike, Ohio / St. Peter Chanel). It marked the first 60-yard punt by a Scot since Sept. 4, 1999, when Matt Mahaffey booted a 61-yarder at Grove City College.

The Battling Bishops’ first two drives of the third quarter resulted in field goals of 24 and 20 yards, as they took a 6-3 edge. Later in the third, a tight end screen pass from Holter to Ben Schrock (Wadsworth, Ohio / Wadsworth) went 55 yards for Wooster, and the Scots would tie it up 6-6 via a 38-yard Milligan field goal.

In the fourth quarter, Ohio Wesleyan would march 54 yards to the Wooster 1-yard line only to see the Scot defense make another stand, this time stopping three-straight runs to force an 18-yard field goal. That gave the Bishops a 9-6 lead, but it also allowed Wooster to win the game with Sheppard’s touchdown.

Overall, Sheppard produced his first 100-yard game of the season, netting 116 on 20 carries. He now has 2,052 rushing yards for his career. Backfield mate Orlando Jones (Elyria, Ohio / Elyria) added 64 yards on 15 rushes, while Holter completed 14-of-27 passes for 158 yards. Trey Simmerman (Clarksburg, W. Va. / Notre Dame) paced the defense with 14 tackles – six more than any other Scot player – and forced a fumble and recovered it on the same play.

NCAC Player of the Week: For his efforts (see above), junior running back Dustin Sheppard (Johnstown, Ohio / Johnstown-Monroe) was the North Coast Athletic Conference Player of the Week.

Team Award Winners: In addition to the conference weekly award, Dustin Sheppard (Johnstown, Ohio / Johnstown-Monroe) was also the team’s Offensive Player of the Week, while freshman linebacker Steve Custenborder (Rocky River, Ohio / Rocky River) received the Defensive Player-of-the-Week award from the coaching staff. In his first career start, Custenborder had seven tackles, including 3.5 for losses of 11 yards. Also, senior placekicker Andy Milligan (Orrville, Ohio / Orrville) continued his perfect season – 9-of-9 on extra points and 3-of-3 on field goals – to pick up the Special Teams Player-of-the-Week honor, sophomore left guard Storm Tropea (Hollywood, Fla. / Hollywood Hills) earned the “Mule” after grading out as the top offensive lineman, and Austin Holter (Johnstown, Ohio / Johnstown-Monroe) and Will Miska (Hillsborough, N.J. / Hillsborough) shared the “Gamebreaker” award for the 4th-and-8 conversion.   

This and That: Last year when Hiram and Wooster played, the Scots produced one of their best defensive efforts ever. They held the Terriers to negative 19 rushing yards – the second-lowest Wooster has held an opponent to in team history – and had six takeaways, which stands as the fourth-most ... Senior linebackers Greg Schermbeck (Holly Springs, N.C. / Whitmer – Ohio) and Trey Simmerman (Clarksburg, W. Va. / Notre Dame) are both on pace for 100-tackle seasons, each currently with 50 stops through five games. The last Wooster player to accomplish that feat was Tim Cline in 2001 when he had 135 ... Junior punter Kevin Friedman (Pepper Pike, Ohio / St. Peter Chanel) is currently averaging 40.4 yards per attempt. Only four previous seasons has a Scot finished with a punting average over 40.0 yards.