CRAWFORDSVILLE, Indiana -- Wabash scored with 45 seconds remaining to take a 42-38 lead in Saturday's Homecoming football game against North Coast Athletic Conference foe Denison. The Big Red mounted a five-play, 76-yard drive, culminating in an 18-yard touchdown reception from to with :06 left in the ballgame, as Wabash lost 45-42 in heartbreaking fashion on Saturday afternoon at Little Giant Stadium.

The Little Giants fell to 2-2 overall and 1-1 in conference matchups, while the Big Red improved to 4-0 on the year and 2-0 in North Coast Athletic Conference play.

Liam Thompson led Wabash's passing attack with 347 yards through the air, tossing three touchdowns and three interceptions. The signal caller also added 73 yards on the ground.

Donovan Snyder led all Wabash rushers with 91 yards and two touchdowns in the contest, picking up 3.8 yards per carry. Conner Grimes scored his first collegiate touchdown and ran two times for 29 yards. 

Penn Stoller reeled in five catches for 103 yards and one score. Derek Allen Jr. got in on the action in the passing game as well, hauling in three balls for 63 yards. The Little Giants also got 58 yards receiving from Jacob Riddle in the contest.

Gavin Ruppert showed out for the Wabash defense, totaling 18 tackles, 0.5 TFL, one forced fumble, and one recovered fumble. Cade Lansdell added three tackles and one interception and Jose Franco had four tackles in the loss.

The Little Giants forced two turnovers in Saturday's contest, with Wabash turning those takeaways into seven points. Wabash also had an outstanding day offensively, logging 558 total yards, 211 on the ground and 347 through the air, while averaging 6.7 yards per play and out-gaining Denison. Wabash converted on 43.8 percent of third-down attempts on the day. The Little Giants also went 2-for-3 on fourth down.

Wabash's offense made the most of its visits to the red zone, scoring on three of its three trips, with all of those scores being touchdowns.

After falling behind 7-0, Wabash fired back with a touchdown with 12:56 left in the second quarter to tie the game at 7-7.Denison scored to go ahead 14-7 before the Little Giants responded to tie the game at 14-14.

Denison then grabbed a 17-14 lead, but Wabash responded at the 8:43 remaining mark in the third quarter with a 22-yard touchdown run from Snyder to jump back ahead 21-17.The Little Giants  continued to expand their lead, scoring again on a 21-yard Grimes TD run to go on top 28-17.

Wabash continued to build its lead after Denison made it a 28-24 game, scoring again with 14:28 left in the fourth quarter make the score 35-24.The Big Red answered with 14 points to take the lead before the Little Giants snatched it back on a seven-yard touchdown pass from Thompson to Stoller, which brought the score to 42-38 in favor of Wabash. Denison answered with the game-winning drive when Drew Dawkins connected with Billy Guzzo on an 18-yard touchdown pass for the win with six seconds left in the game..

» Wabash outgained Denison 558-552, including a 347-301 advantage through the air.
» Wabash had their highest scoring quarter in the fourth period, when they put up 14 points.
» Wabash converted 7 of 16 third downs while Denison was successful on 9 of 17.
» The Little Giants had four players with more than eight tackles in the ballgame led by Ruppert, who had 18.
» Wabash went 2-for-3 on fourth down, converting on 66.7 percent of attempts.
» The Little Giant offense came out of halftime firing on all cylinders after trailing 17-14 at the break, scoring 14 unanswered until the Big Red got on the board again.
» The loss ends a streak of 25 consecutive Homecoming victories for the Little Giants dating back to their last Homecoming defeat, a 29-21 contest versus Anderson University.
» Drew Dawkins led the Big Red passing attack, completing 15 of his 32 attempts for 301 yards and two touchdowns with one interception.
» Trey Fabrocini led the Denison rushing attack with 171 yards and four touchdowns.

This story created through content automation technology from Data Skrive.