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Wabash dominates Monon Bell Classic with 38-21 win over DePauw
Wabash College finished with nearly 500 yards of offense and held DePauw to 230 in the Little Giants' 38-21 win in the 120th Monon Bell Classic at DePauw on Saturday.
Wabash sophomore Anthony Stella and junior Grant Klembara combined for 146 rush yards and a touchdown on 29 carries and senior Sean Hildebrand caught 10 passes for 125 yards and a touchdown in what may be his final college game.
DePauw (4-6, 4-5 North Coast Athletic Conference) fell behind before showing any signs of life on either side of the ball.
"They were disappointed," DPU head coach Bill Lynch said. "They wanted it to be a competitive game and it wasn't. I've got a lot of respect for those guys, especially for the seniors on the this team."
Senior wide receiver Barry Flynn caught a 4-yard touchdown pass freshman quarterback Matt Hunt with 8:27 left in the second quarter, narrowing the gap to 28-7.
Flynn finished with five catches for 72 yards. Hunt was 12-for-21 for 172 yards, three touchdowns and no interceptions in his Monon debut.
Wabash (9-1, 8-1 NCAC) scored a touchdown on each of its first five possessions before it haulted its own streak by taking a knee to run out the first-half clock.
The Little Giants rank third in the country in rush defense, allowing 63.7 yards per game and 1.9 per carry.
DePauw ran 18 times for 2 yards before halftime.
"That's what we do on offense," DPU coach Bill Lynch said, "and if you don't, then the pass rush will overwhelm you. ... If you give up the running and put yourself with a young offensive line pass blocking, that's when it gets ugly."
Nikko Sansone took the brunt of the Little Giants' defense. He had 15 carries for 12 yards before breaking a long 44-yard run to create some cushion from the Wabash defense midway through the third quarter.
"I knew that their defense was that good, so we just wanted to pound it and pound it and pound it," Sansone said. "I was lucky enough, and the line blocked enough. The hole was there and I just hit it as hard as I could."
DePauw later scored on the drive when Flynn drew double coverage in the corner of the end zone and Hunt found junior J.D. Robinson streaking across the back line for a 6-yard touchdown.
"He's a good football player and he does a lot for us," Lynch said of Robinson.
The Tigers' defense stepped up in the second half, holding the noticeably more conservative Little Giants to just one field goal after the break.
Down 24 with 2:48 left, Hunt and Robinson hooked up again, this time for a 38-yard touchdown when Flynn drew double coverage on the sideline and Robinson was left open down the middle.
"The group of guys that we have in the locker room kind of attests to the way we played in the second half," Sansone said. "We didn't give up. We just kept fighting and that's what it's about.
"Win or lose I'm proud of myself and I'm proud that I got done with my college career, can look myself in the mirror and know that I put it all out there. That's all you really can ask for."
DPU elected to kick the extra point, rather than attempting a two-point try to potentially make it a two-score game. Trailing by 17 with 2:39 left and all three timeouts, the Tigers kicked off down the field instead of going for an onside attempt to try to get the ball back.
Wabash picked up a first down and ran out the rest of the clock to win its fifth-straight Monon Bell game.
Flynn finished the season with 71 catches for 891 yards and 10 touchdowns, sixth-, ninth- and seventh-best in DPU single-season history.
Sansone, who finished the game with 22 carries for 55 yards, ended his season with 733 rush yards, 13th in the school records. He was converted to running back earlier this season after starting his DPU career at wide receiver. He had walked on at Missouri before transferring to DePauw for his sophomore season.
"I was really happy to move to running back," Sansone said. "That's what I played at Missouri and when I transferred here, that's what my intentions were to play. The old coaching staff didn't see it that way and when Lynch came, I talked to him and he thought that was the right fit."
The Tigers finished the year with a two-win improvement over last year. DPU started the season 0-4.
Lynch said he will take only a couple days off before conducting exit interviews and getting out on the recruiting trail.
"We're going to meet with the guys individually, send the seniors off and see where the young guys are going," he said. "We'll meet with the players, and then we'll head out on the road and start recruiting."