Wabash begins its 18th season playing football in the North Coast Athletic Conference Saturday when the Little Giants face Kenyon College at 1 p.m. at Byron P. Hollett Little Giant Stadium.
 
Wabash joined the NCAC in the fall of 1999 and started playing football in the league during the 2000 season. Since joining the conference, Wabash captured conference titles in 2015, 2011, 2008, 2007, 2005, and 2002 and tied for the NCAC championship with Wittenberg in 2006.
Wabash is coming off a 35-26 victory in its season opener two weeks earlier versus Albion College. The Little Giants rushed for 321 yards on 72 attempts ­--- the second-most rushing attempts in a game in school history --- and held the ball for 42 of the 60-minutes of playing time. Sophomore Ike James ran for the sixth-most yards by a Wabash player in a game with his 238-yard effort on 43 carries. He ran for three touchdowns and earned NCAC Offensive Player of the Week honors. Bobby Blum and Tyler Downing each scored rushing touchdowns to account for the Wabash scoring.
 
Weston Murphy completed 8-of12 pass attempts for 65 yards in his first career start at quarterback for the Little Giants. Dylan Buresh and Matt Penola caught two passes each, with Buresh leading the Little Giants' receiving corps with 26 yards.
 
Defensively Wabash recorded four sacks, led by two from Byshup Rhodes and one by Luke Kseniak. Evan Hansen made six solo tackles and nine total to pace Wabash. The Little Giants limited Albion to 114 rushing yards and 329 yards of total offense.
 
Wabash spent the bye week immediately after the Albion game working on fixing mistakes from the season opener before focusing on its opponent this Saturday, Kenyon.
 
"We dropped footballs against Albion that we should have caught," Morel said. "We used last week to clean that up. We cleaned up some protection issues we had with the offensive line. The defense busted on a few things. We spent time fixing that. All the improvement you try to make between game one and game two we were able to really focus on without also being focused on an opponent. We had the opportunity to get some guys healthy after a tough camp and opening game against Albion. Byes are great. I really like them early in the season. At the Division III level so many guys get dinged up in camp because they don't have the opportunity in the summer to practice football. I don't mind the bye after the first game at all."
 
The Little Giants will face a young and talented Kenyon squad that has gotten off to a rough start. Unlike the Wabash schedule this season with three home games to open the season, the Lords started the 2017 campaign with a pair of road losses at Sewanee (45-20) and a conference opening defeat at Oberlin last week (31-10). Saturday's game at Wabash concludes the three-game opening road stretch for Kenyon before heading home for three conference contests the following weeks.
 
Sophomore quarterback Thomas Merkle heads the offense for Kenyon. The second-year starter threw for 2,928 yards and 15 touchdowns last year. Turnovers have plagued Merkle early this season. He threw five interceptions at Sewanee in the opener and was picked off once last week at Oberlin. Despite the turnover issue, Merkle has completed 58 passes for 514 yards and two TDs through his first two starts.
 
Senior Ian Bell has been Merkle's favorite target. The 6-1 wideout owns 30 of the 59 pass receptions for the Lords accounting for 249 yards and both touchdowns. Brandon Byrd ranks second on the receiving list with 10 catches for 122 yards.
 
Freshman Seamus McCurren is off to a solid start at running back for Kenyon. The 5-9, 187-pound rookie has rushed 17 times for 85 yards. Sophomore Nat Henry, the Lords' leading rusher last season, averages 27 yards a game through the first two contests this season.
 
Curt Williams leads the Kenyon defense in tackles (23) and interceptions (one) from his free safety position. Jules Desroches, a senior linebacker, tops the team is sacks with two and tackles for loss with 2-1/2 for a total of 19 yards.
 
"We have nine tough games in a row and it starts this Saturday with Kenyon," Morel said. "They are extremely well coached. Coach (Chris) Monfiletto does a great job over there. At some point they will get good really quick. I hope it's not this Saturday. We have to focus on all of the little things we felt we let up on versus Albion where we lost contain on the quarterback. We had two turnovers last week after committing only five all of last season. We can't turn the ball over. We're not built to do that. We need to get that stuff fixed."
 
Tickets for Saturday's contest are available for purchase in advance online at https://www.ticketor.com/wabash. Cost is $7 for adults, $4 for students ages 5 to 18, and children under the age of 5 admitted free of charge. Tickets purchased the day of the game at the gate are $8 for adults and $5 for students ages 5 to 18.
 
The game will be broadcast online at https://www.wabash.edu/live beginning at 12:40 p.m. with the Coach Morel Pregame Show. Jim Amidon '87 and Steve Hoffman '85 will announce the game with Josh Mundell '21 as the sideline reporter. Audio from the broadcast can be heard on WNDY 91.3 FM.