Miscues cost DePauw in 24-21 loss at Wooster

WOOSTER, Ohio — DePauw committed five turnovers which led to 17 Wooster points and the Fighting Scots held on for a 24-21 North Coast Athletic Conference win over the Tigers. DePauw dropped to 1-2 overall and 1-1 in the NCAC, while the Fighting Scots improved to 2-2 overall and 1-2 in conference play.

On its second possession of the game, the Tigers drove 91 yards in 13 plays with Demarco Henry putting DePauw on the board with a 3-yard run with 2:29 left in the first.

Wooster came right back with a 13-play series of its own which covered 80 yards and was capped by Mario Renteria’s 14-yard pass to Cole Hissong with 12:03 remaining in the half.

The teams exchanged punts before DePauw punter Ty Johnson was unable to handle a punt snap and Derrick Florence scooped it up at the 3 and scored with 7:09 left in the half.

The Fighting Scots extended the lead to 21-7 on the first play from scrimmage after a DePauw punt as Renteria connected with Nick Strausbaugh for a 73-yard score with only 28 seconds left in the half on the first play after Cam Pollard picked off DePauw quarterback Chase Andries.

On the opening possession of the second half, DePauw’s Anthony Sansone recovered a Wooster fumble at the Wooster 23 after punter Henry Whyte was unable to handle a snap. Four plays later Cam Haynes tossed a 7-yard scoring pass to Logan Greene to cut Wooster’s lead to 21-14 with 10:26 remaining in the third.

Wooster drove to the Tigers’ 33 on its next possession, but DePauw’s defense stopped the hosts on downs at the 26. DePauw then picked up a first down after a Wooster personal foul penalty before the Tigers fumbled and Wooster’s Robert Alvarez recovered at the DePauw 32. This led to Whyte’s 24-yard field goal with 5:35 remaining in the third to make it 24-14.

DePauw trimmed the lead to 24-21 after Haynes connected with Andy Hunt for a 5-yard touchdown with 9:20 left in the contest which capped a nine-play drive.

The Fighting Scots then drove to the DePauw 36 before being forced to punt. Wooster downed the punt at the DePauw 8 with 3:58 left. Haynes completed three straight passes to the DePauw 34, but Wooster’s Beau Greenwood intercepted him for the second time on the day and the Fighting Scots took over near midfield with 2:40 left.

The Tigers got the ball back with 2:12 left, but turned the ball over on downs and Wooster was able to run out the clock.

DePauw’s defense held Wooster to minus 50 rushing yards, but managed just 19 of its own. Wooster held a 388-266 advantage in passing yards in the win.

Haynes completed 22 of 32 passes for 238 yards, while Chase Andries was 6 of 8 for 28 yards. Will Harris was the Tigers’ top receiver with nine catches for 74 yards with Hunt adding six catches.

Renteria completed 29 of 45 for 388 yards with eight of those going to Strausbaugh and covering 161 yards. Jacob Lewis hauled in six for 100 yards.

Zach Williams paced the DePauw defense with 13 tackles, while Brody Gude had three of the Tigers’ five sacks.

DePauw returns to action on Saturday when it hosts Ohio Wesleyan in a 1 p.m. contest.