Wabash tied a school record with 10 sacks in Saturday’s 38-0 home win over Kenyon College. The victory keeps the Little Giants tied for first place in the North Coast Athletic Conference standings with a 5-0 record in league games and a 6-1 overall mark. The shutout win is the third of the season for the Wabash defense.
Wabash pressured Kenyon quarterback Park Penrod all afternoon, getting to the senior ten times to match the school record initially set in 2001 and matched in 2004 and 2006. The Little Giants limited Kenyon (4-4, 3-3 NCAC) to 11 rushing and 80 passing yards.
The Little Giants special teams started the scoring when Kenyon attempted a 46-yard field goal after the Owls’ defense forced a turnover on downs on Wabash’s first offensive possession. Jordan Cree and Michael Hegwood combined to blocked the kick, and Avery Epstein recovered the loose ball and raced 64 yards for the 7-0 lead. Xavier Tyler scored on a 20-yard run in the first quarter to put Wabash in front 14-0. Tyler ran for 58 yards on 16 carries.
TJ Alexander put the Little Giants in front 21-0 with an eight-yard run in the second period. Wabash added two more touchdowns on an 11-yard pass from Brand Campbell to Connor Thompson and a Cole Dickerson 23-yard rush. Hegwood added an interception — the eighth consecutive game Wabash has picked off the opposing quarterback — to set up a Brody Rucker field goal to complete the game’s scoring.
Campbell finished 15 of 19 passing for 199 yards and one score. Thompson caught a team-best seven passes for 77 yards. Kannon Chase added four receptions for 66 yards. The Little Giants ran for 83 yards on 36 attempts in addition to throwing for 199 yards.
Gavin Ruppert paced the defense with 11 tackles to move to 13th on the Wabash career tackles list with 223 stops in three seasons. Cree made five total tackles with 2-1/2 sacks and 3-1/2 tackles for losses totaling 20 yards. Brody Frey and RJ Tolbert each picked up two sacks. Steven Thomas, Cooper Jarvis, and Gage Galloway finished with one sack apiece. Will Olive split a sack with Cree.
Wabash plays the remaining top-three teams in the conference standings in its final three games, starting next week with a 1 p.m. Saturday home game against third-place Denison (4-3, 4-1 NCAC). The Little Giants travel to sixth-place Wittenberg (3-3, 2-2 NCAC) on Nov. 9 before facing conference co-leader DePauw (7-0, 6-0 NCAC) in the 130th Monon Bell Classic on Nov. 16.
Game Notes
• Wabash outgained Kenyon 282-91, including a 199-80 advantage through the air.
• Wabash won the turnover battle 1-0 after picking off one pass.
• The Little Giants scored first with 4:51 left in the first quarter and never trailed the rest of the game on their way to victory.
• Wabash had its highest scoring quarter in the third period when it scored 17 points.
• The Little Giants collected 15 tackles for loss and added 10 sacks.
• Campbell completed 78.9% of his passes on the day, going 15-for-19, averaging 10.5 yards per attempt.
• Penrod led the Owls’ passing attack, completing 12 of his 25 attempts for 80 yards with one interception.
• Brendan Comerford was Kenyon’s leading receiver with 43 yards.
