Wabash remained undefeated overall and in the North Coast Athletic Conference thanks to a 33-28 victory against the College of Wooster.
 
The Little Giants needed a clutch catch, an onside kick, two huge defensive stops, and a dominating running game to earn its first road win of the season.
 
Wabash trailed just 19 seconds into the game when Wooster (3-2, 2-2 NCAC) scored on its first play from scrimmage. Senior quarterback Gary Muntean connected with Nick Strausbaugh on a 72-yard pass play for a touchdown to give the Fighting Scots a 7-0 lead.
 
The Little Giants answered with a 10-play drive that ended with a 34-yard field goal by Schuyler Nehrig and 12-play that provided an eight-yard touchdown pass from Weston Murphy to Matt Penola for a 10-7 Wabash lead at the end of the first period.
 
Wooster regained the lead in the second with Muntean's second of four TD throws, this one a three-year toss to Jacob Lewis to provide a 14-10 lead. Wabash struck quickly on the next drive. Isaac Avant broke free from the Wooster defense and raced 63 yards to the end zone for his first touchdown of the season for a 17-14 advantage for Wabash.
 
The Little Giants reached deep into the playbook on the ensuing kickoff. Nehrig dribbled the kick ten yards down the field and pounced on the ball to recover the onside kick and give Wabash possession again. The Little Giants took advantage, marching the ball downfield 53 yards in five plays before Ike James waltzed into the end zone on a one-yard run for a 24-14 lead.
 
The Scots closed the gap to 24-21 when Muntean and Strausbaugh connected again on the first play from scrimmage, this time for a 56-yard touchdown.
 
A Nehrig field goal in the third period provided a 27-21 lead for Wabash, but another one-play drive for the Scots --- this time on a 42-yard pass from Muntean to Lewis --- put Wooster in front 28-27.
 
The Little Giants regained the lead on a monstrous drive that ate up 9:28 of time off the clock and took 18 plays to march 75 yards. Kirby Cox made a big fourth-down catch that kept the drive alive, then capped it with a four-yard reception of a Weston Murphy pass in the end zone to give Wabash the five-point lead with 13:34 remaining in the game.
 
"Kirby Cox is really coming on as a great football player," Wabash head coach Don Morel said. "We've known he's a great player, he's just getting the opportunity this year. We had some other guys like Koty Hall, who came up with a huge catch for us, Ra'shawn Jones is playing more and more, and Dylan Buresh had another big catch today. All in all it was a great effort for our team."
 
The Scots' next drive begin at their own 16-yard line. Wooster moved the ball out to midfield, but the drive stalled when Henry Webberhunt knocked away a pass on second down, then brought down running back Antonio Bailey for loss on third down to force the Scots to punt.
 
Wabash ran seven minutes off the clock, but gave the ball away on an interception on fourth down. Wooster took over with 2:23 left in the game. After an incompletion and a four-yard run, defensive back Ryan Walters forced incomplete passes on third and fourth down with big hits to end Wooster's final offensive threat.
 
"Ryan Walters has been a great player for us the last couple of years," Morel said. "We really need those plays and that stop. We struggled today on defense. Last week we were excellent on defense. This week we struggled. We played better on offense but we had a couple of turnovers. For us to win games we have to be close to perfect. We weren't perfect today but we did win."
 
The Little Giants' rushing attack controlled the game. Wabash ran 63 times for a season-high 327 yards and held the ball for 42:32 compared to 17:28. James led the team with 161 yards on 37 carries. Avant also topped the 100-yard mark with 126 yards on 16 attempts. The Little Giants ran a total of 90 plays for 492 yards, while Wooster compiled 338 yards in 45 plays.
 
Murphy finished the day 14-for-26 passing for 143 yards and two touchdowns. Cox led the Little Giants with four receptions for 51 yards and a touchdown.
 
Evan Hansen and Byshup Rhodes paced the defense with four tackles apiece. Artie Equihua recorded the lone sack of the game for the Little Giants. Muntean completed 10-of-21 passes for 229 yards and four touchdowns.
 
Wabash (4-0, 3-0 NCAC) returns home next week to face Denison University at 1 p.m. at Hollett Little Giant Stadium.