Reiff Leads Scots to Big Second Half in 59-17 Win

Bobby Reiff fires a pass during the first half against Hiram. Reiff finished with a school-record 423 yards passing against the Terriers.

WOOSTER, Ohio – Sparked by a school-record passing day from Bobby Reiff (Bay Village, Ohio / Bay), The College of Wooster exploded for 56 second-half points en route to a 59-17 defeat of visiting Hiram College in Saturday’s North Coast Athletic Conference tilt at John P. Papp Stadium.

Reiff finished 17-of-33 through the air for 423 yards and four scores, bettering former Wooster great Rich Judd’s 414-yard game against Oberlin College on Nov. 1, 1997.

Also noteworthy, the Fighting Scots’ 56 second-half points were the most scored in a 30-minute span in team history since at least 1920 (there were six games prior to that, in which the Scots ended up with 56-plus points, but a breakdown of scoring in each quarter is unavailable). Wooster most recently broke the 50-point mark in the 1997 Oberlin game, when it put up 51 in the first half as part of a 77-28 win.

After spotting Hiram (1-7, 1-4 NCAC) a 10-3 halftime lead, the Scots broke through for five touchdowns in the third quarter, including three in the opening 6:04. The first came just :28 in, as Dustin Sheppard (Newark, Ohio / Johnstown-Monroe) found a seam up the middle and went 50 yards for the score.

On its next possession, Wooster (6-2, 3-2 NCAC) got the ball in good field position again and marched 45 yards in eight plays, capped by an eight-yard Reiff touchdown pass to tight end Ben Schrock (Wadworth, Ohio / Wadsworth) to give the Scots their first lead of the game (17-10) at the 10:33 mark.

After the Wooster defense forced the Terriers into a second consecutive three-and-out, Reiff threw a quick route to David Miller (Uniontown, Ohio / Lake), who caught the ball between two Hiram defenders, then broke a tackle and sprinted his way to a 60-yard touchdown.

The theme for the third quarter continued on the next set of series, as the Terriers were held without a first down and punted to the Wooster 45. Three plays later, the Scots were celebrating another score, this time a 37-yard pass play to Shaun Swearingen (Hilliard, Ohio / Bishop Watterson), making it 31-10.

Hiram was able to manage a first down conversion on the ensuing possession, but a couple of plays after that, Andrew O’Connell (Granger, Ind. / Penn) got good position on a lobbed pass, intercepted it, and brought it back 49 yards for his second career touchdown to put Wooster up 38-10 heading into the fourth quarter.

The Scots would tack on three more touchdowns, the first two by Aaron Gertz (Bay Village, Ohio / Bay). First, Reiff hooked up with his former high school teammate on a 26-yard pass play to complete a four-play, 61-yard drive. After the Scot defense forced another three-and-out, Gertz came through from the left side to block the punt and picked up the loose ball, carrying it 11 yards in for the score as Wooster went ahead 52-10 with 10:19 remaining.

The Terriers answered with their first second-half points of the year, as quarterback Trevor Henderson sneaked it in from a yard out to wrap up a 13-play, 80-yard drive.

Will Miska (Hillsborough, N.J. / Hillsborough) then replaced Reiff, and on his third career play, faked a handoff to the running back, took the ball himself to the left and outran several Hiram defenders, scoring a 63-yard touchdown for the final margin.

In the first half, Hiram scored on its first two series, including an 83-yard Henderson touchdown pass to Max Kravitz, to take a 10-0 lead. The Scots were unable to capitalize on several opportunities, as they drove the ball into the red zone four times, but came with just three points.

Overall, Wooster rolled up a season-high 635 offensive yards, averaging 10.2 stripes per play.

Reiff’s top target was Miller, who had 168 receiving yards – the sixth-highest total in team history – on just five catches. Gertz also wound up with a 100-yard game (128) on five catches.

In addition to the big passing day, Sheppard rushed for 123 yards on 21 attempts.

For the Terriers, Henderson ended up 20-of-33 for 241 yards, 158 of which went to Kravitz, while Jim Shamshak led the way on the ground with 43 stripes on 14 carries.