Football 08-09

Drew Homyk led DU with 8 tackles and one interception.

The Denison Big Red have faced Wabash College six times since the Little Giants joined the North Coast Athletic Conference.  Over that span Wabash has dominated by averaging a 38-point margin of victory in those six contests.

On Saturday afternoon in front of a large crowd of Denison faithful, the Big Red gave the Little Giants a true test, proving akin to the Wabash mantra, "Denison (also) Always Fights."  After the smoke cleared, Wabash would hold off a fourth quarter charge from the Big Red, prevailing 41-27.

The key play of the contest occurred with 10 seconds remaining in the second quarter.  After a 10-play 85-yard drive resulted in a Denison touchdown from Mike Barnes (Gates Mills, Ohio/Mayfield) to Brandon Taylor (Cincinnati, Ohio/Anderson), Denison found themselves trailing by only one point, 14-13.

After a pair of quick first downs by Wabash quarterback Matt Hudson, he would connect with Kody Lemond on a 41-yard scoring strike with just 10 seconds left in the half, giving the Little Giants some extra cushion going into the locker room.  The play was an acrobatic one by Lemond, who actually came up with the catch while twisting on his back following an impressive tip by DU defensive back Tyler Lambert (Ranger, Ga./Gordon Central).

In the second half the deep ball would again plague the Big Red as Hudson hooked up with Lemond on a 38-yard TD pass on their first possession of the third quarter.

The next two offensive possessions would also result in Hudson scoring strikes and suddenly the Little Giants found themselves leading 41-13 and heading for another blow out win in Granville.

In their best Lee Corso voice, the Big Red had a "not so fast" for the Wabash sideline.  Just over a minute into the fourth quarter Barnes would complete a another 10-play drive with a touchdown pass to Peter Jarowey (Newton, Mass./South).  Following a Wabash missed field goal the Big Red would answer again when Barnes hooked up with sophomore James Hall (Kenilworth, Ill./New Trier) in the left corner of the end zone from 20-yards out, cutting the lead to 14 points with 8:42 to play.

Sensing a momentum shift, the Denison defense answered the call when junior safety Drew Homyk (Chicago, Ill/St. Ignatius) picked off a Hudson pass at the 5-yard line, thwarting another Wabash scoring threat..  Homyk's return to the 9-yard line with 4:57 gave the Big Red an outside shot at the upset.

Barnes and the Big Red offense would take the field, but a drive which totaled 13-plays and chewed up most of the clock would be stalled at midfield, resulting in the victory for the Little Giants.

Hudson and the wide receiving corps led by Lemond and Andrew Rode had a big afternoon.  The 6'4" senior quarterback was 26-of-35 for 391 yards and six touchdown passes.  Lemond was on the receiving end of three of those scores.  He also caught eight passes for 177 yards.  Rhode followed with six receptions for 109 yards.

Denison was led by Barnes who completed 23-of-41 passes for 235 yards and three touchdown passes.  He also led the team in rushing with 19 carries for 49 yards.  Jarowey was his favorite target, as he hauled in a career-best nine catches for 68 yards and a touchdown.

Wabash finished with 501 yards of total offense, compared to 327 yards for the Big Red.  The game was marred by penalties as the two teams combined for 24 flags totaling 234 yards. 

Denison (1-1, 0-1 NCAC) is off next week and will host The College of Wooster on Sept. 27 at 7 p.m.  The Little Giants move to 1-0 on the year.