DePauw team travels to Wabash for Monon Bell

Friday, November 14, 2014

DePauw wraps up the 2014 season Saturday with the renewal of one of college football's oldest and most colorful rivalries as the Tigers travel to Crawfordsville to battle Wabash College for possession of the Monon Bell.

Kickoff for the 121st gridiron meeting between the two schools is set for 1:07 p.m. The teams are meeting for the 83rd time since the Monon Bell was introduced into the series in 1932. The rivalry started in 1890 and this marks the 104th consecutive year the schools are squaring off dating back to 1911.

DePauw enters the contest with a 7-2 overall record and a 6-2 mark in North Coast Athletic Conference play after last Saturday's 45-12 home win over Hiram which also was the Tigers' third straight win.

Wabash, ranked 17th by D3football.com, is 8-1 overall and 7-1 in conference play following Saturday's 21-15 loss at Wittenberg. That game decided the NCAC's automatic qualifier to the NCAA postseason.

DEPAUW UPDATE

The Tigers enter with a three-game win streak after Saturday's home win over Hiram. In the win, the Tigers scored on their first five offensive posses- sion before adding a sixth score on an interception.

DePauw outgained Hiram, 441-227, and led in first downs, 21-14. Matt Hunt completed 14-25 passes for 235 yards with five touchdowns and no interceptions. Jake Hagan hauled in five for 73 yards and one score with Jay D. Robinson catching four for 59 and two touchdowns and Amen Galley three for 69 and a score. Galley added 52 rushing yards with Hunt picking up 48.

Thomas Gray, the NCAC Defensive Player of the Week, led DePauw with seven tackles including a team-high three for losses totaling five yards along with an interception he returned for a touchdown, a pass break up and three hurries. Clark Costello and Philip Ganser followed with five tackles apiece.

Hunt has completed 59.3 percent of his passes for 1,684 yards with 16 touchdowns and five interceptions for a 142.65 efficiency rating. He also averages 41.7 rushing yards per game, while Galley leads the team with 70.2 per outing. Jack Gruber has totaled a team-high eight rushing touchdowns on 76 carries.

Hunt's top receiver is Hagan who has caught 29 for 337 yards, while Robinson has 27 catches for 352 yards and a team-best five touchdowns.

Will Longthorne leads the defense with 72 tack- les followed by Adam Folta with 54 and Gray with 50. Michael Mitsch and Peter Nelson have each recorded 7.0 tackles for loss with Mitsch leading the team with 2.5 sacks. Hamm Hooper has three of the Tigers' 14 interceptions including one he returned for a score against Wooster. Hooper and Cody Baker have each broken up eight passes.

Paul Simon averages 38.6 yards per punt and has landed 14 of his 39 inside the opponent's 20 with nine going for 50 or more yards.

Marko Adams has nailed all 40 extra-point attempts and is 11-13 in field goals with a long of 43 in last week's win over Hiram. Adams also handles the kickoff duties and averages 61.6 yards with 18 touchbacks.

Jason Kirchhoff averages 9.7 yards per punt return and 18.2 on each kickoff, while Connor Jef- fers averages 23.4 yards on his 13 kickoff returns.

SCOUTING WABASH

For the second straight year, Wabash enters the game with an 8-1 record after losing to Wittenberg the previous week. Wabash outgained Wittenberg, 352-216 and held a 223-59 advantage on the ground, but the hosts blocked a first-quarter Wa- bash punt that resulted in a 4-play, 23-yard drive and later in the half returned a Little Giants fumble 58 yards for a score.

Mason Zurek paced Wabash with 120 rushing yards on 17 carries, while Tyler Holmes added 89 yards on 23 tries. Michael Putko completed 9-21 passes for 102 yards with one touchdown and an interception, while Connor Rice was 2-8 for 27 yards. Drake Christen caught four passes for 55 yards and a score.

Defensively, Austin Brown and Evan Rutter each totaled nine tackles, while Rutter led the way with 3.5 of the Little Giants' six sacks.

Wabash enters with the 12th-ranked scoring offense in Division III and 16th in rushing offense. Holmes leads the way by averaging 100.6 rushing yards per contest and has topped the 100-yard plateau five times, while Zurek follows with 68.2 with three games over 100 yards. Each have rushed for nine scores.

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