A one-yard run by Ike James regained the lead the Wabash College football team would not relinquish in its 25-21 victory Saturday over Hiram College.
 
The Little Giants overcame a 14-point deficit, two lost fumbles and a blocked punt to earn their third victory of the season and move to 2-0 against North Coast Athletic Conference opponents.
 
The visiting Terriers (1-2, 0-2 NCAC) nearly played the role of spoiler on a hot Homecoming afternoon in Crawfordsville. With temperatures soaring into the upper 90s, Hiram marched down the field on its opening possession, scoring on a nine-yard run by All-NCAC running back Danny Robinson for a 7-0 lead.
 
Hiram took a 14-0 lead in the first quarter after blocking a Wabash punt attempt, recovering the ball at the Wabash 15 yard line. Quarterback Randy Tucker connected with CJ Maner on a 12-yard pass three plays later for the two touchdown advantage.
 
"We started so poorly," Wabash head coach Don Morel said. "We had that punt blocked. We fumbled the kickoff return to start the second half. We need to get this stuff fixed, and we will. These are things good football teams don't do.
 
"We really struggled to throw the ball. We need to work on that too. We've regressed from week two to week three. We've got to figure some stuff out."
 
Wabash answered quickly on the next drive. Weston Murphy hit Matt Penola with a short pass to the right side. Penola raced down the sidelines, sprung free by a block from Oliver Page, and into the end zone to complete the 53-yard scoring play to cut the Hiram lead to 14-7.
 
The Terriers were pinned deep in their own territory on the next drive and were forced to punt from their own six yard line. The kick was blocked by Artie Equihua into the end zone for a safety to cut the Hiram advantage to 14-9.
 
Tyler Downing provided the first lead of the game for Wabash midway through the second quarter. The senior, who suffered a season-ending injury a year earlier in the game at Hiram, powered through the defense for an 11-yard touchdown and a 16-14 Wabash lead.
 
The Little Giants held that lead through halftime and were set to take the ball to begin the second half. A fumble on a kickoff return gave the football to Hiram. The Terriers took advantage of the Wabash miscue, marching 44 yards in nine plays to score on an Isaiah Jones one-yard run and a 21-16 lead.
 
Trailing by five points heading into the final period of play, the Little Giants eventually took their final lead of the game on three consecutive rushes by James, capped by the one-yard plunge for a touchdown. A failed two-point conversion try left the score at 22-21 in favor of the Little Giants.
 
A special teams play went in Wabash's favor midway through the final period to help set up the victory. A drive by Hiram stalled near midfield, forcing the Terrriers to punt. Nick Fox blocked the punt attempt, leading to a recovery and return by Luke Kseniak. The Little Giants converted the play into points eight plays later on a Schuyler Nehrig 30-yard field goal for the 25-21 lead.
 
The Little Giants closed out the game in the closing minutes of the quarter with a 39-yard drive that ran out the clock with James carrying the football six times for 40 yards. The sophomore running back topped 100 rushing yards for the game with 25 attempts for 127 yards and one score. He ran the ball 13 times in the fourth quarter for 74 yards and the game-winning touchdown.
 
"The running game is how we won the game at the end," Morel said.
 
Wabash ran the ball 48 times for 239 yards and two scores. The Little Giants completed 7-of-16 passes for 100 yards and one touchdown. Hiram was held to 102 rushing yards and 182 passing yards for the game. Byshup Rhodes anchored the defensive effort with a team-leading eight tackles, including a pair of sacks and three tackles for losses. Brock Heffron picked off a pass for the Little Giants, the only turnover of the game for Hiram. The Terriers fumbled the ball five times but recovered each one.
 
"I though (Coach) Jeff Ramsey did a great job with our defense," Morel said. "He'll probably tell you we started out horribly and let Hiram go down and score. They scored 21 points today but really only got 14 points against our defense. The way Hiram can score that was an excellent job."
 
Wabash (3-0,2-0 NCAC) travels to Wooster, Ohio next Saturday to face the College of Wooster in a 1 p.m. contest. The Fighting Scots lost to DePauw 51-24.