Senior wide receiver Cooper Sullivan broke the Wabash College career receiving yardage record Saturday afternoon in the Little Giants' 52-13 road win at Hiram College.
The victory puts Wabash (7-2, 6-1 NCAC) in position for a possible share of the 2023 North Coast Athletic Conference title if the Little Giants can pick up a victory next Saturday against DePauw University (9-0, 7-0 NCAC) in the 129th Monon Bell Classic.
Sullivan caught seven passes for 178 yards and one touchdown. The senior hauled in a 43-yard pass to score in the final minute of the second quarter to break the career receiving yardage record of 2,858 held by Mike Funk '89. Sullivan finished the game with 2,875 career receiving yards. Sullivan also took sole possession of eighth place on the Wabash career touchdown receptions list with his 20th trip to the end zone for his career.
Senior quarterback Liam Thompson continued his march on the conference and school record books. He finished Saturday's game with 354 yards on 19 of 21 passing with three touchdowns. His three scoring strikes give him 102 for his career, becoming the first NCAC quarterback with over 100 career TD throws and only the second in Wabash football history. He trails all-time Wabash leader Jake Knott '03, who threw 114 touchdown passes in his career. Thompson moved within 32 yards of breaking the conference career passing yards record of 11,069 yards held by former Ohio Wesleyan quarterback Mason Espinos. Thompson trails Knott's all-time Wabash passing record of 11,213 yards, as well. Thompson enters next weekend's Monon Bell Classic with 11,038 career passing yards.
Wabash took an early lead in Saturday's game at Hiram. The Little Giants scored on their opening drive when senior running back Cade Campbell finished a ten-play, 85-yard drive with a four-yard touchdown run. The Little Giants' defense, which limited Hiram (1-9, 1-7) to 289 yards of total offense for the game, forced the host Terriers to punt on their first possession. Wabash answered with a quick two-play, 76-yard drive that ended with a Derek Allen, Jr. 15-yard touchdown catch. Allen, Jr. finished the game with four receptions for 75 yards and two scores, catching a second touchdown pass on a 26-yard throw from Thompson. Allen, Jr. enters next weekend's game against DePauw ranked sixth on the Wabash career touchdown receptions list with 25 and trails Mike Russell '08 and Kurt Casper '00, both tie for fourth with 27 career TD catches.
The Little Giants added a one-yard touchdown run by Donovan Snyder and a 13-yard TD run by Thompson after recovering a Wabash kickoff that Hiram was unable to cover late in the second quarter to take a 42-0 lead to the locker room at halftime.
Brody Rucker added his seventh made field goal of the season with a 27-yard attempt in the third quarter. Xavier Tyler scored a three-yard rushing touchdown in the fourth quarter to answer Hiram's first score of the game to open the final period. The Terriers scored as the clock reached 0:00 to end the game for a 52-13 final.
Wabash finished with 604 yards of total offense, the third consecutive game with more than 500 yards of offense and the third time this season to post more than 600 yards of offense in a game. The Little Giants ran for 190 yards on 39 carries and threw for 414 yards. Backup quarterback Blake White completed 4-of-6 pass attempts for a career-high 60 yards. Tyler led the Wabash ground game with 118 yards on 22 attempts.
Gavin Ruppert led the Little Giants on defense with five tackles. Dylan Braun made four tackles, as did Vaughn Taylor. Steven Thomas, Cal Pawlowski, and Jerry McBee recorded sacks for Wabash in the game. The Little Giants finished with five tackles for loss. Brody Frey joined McBee, Braun, Thomas, and Pawlowski with tackles behind the line of scrimmage.
Wabash and DePauw meet for the 129th time next Saturday at 1:07 p.m. at Little Giant Stadium. The winner claims the 300-pound Monon Bell. Wabash can share the NCAC football title with DePauw with a victory, while the Tigers would clinch their third consecutive NCAC crown with a win. The victor also earns the conference's automatic berth to the NCAA Division III football playoffs.
Game Notes
» Wabash outgained Hiram 604-289, including a 414-224 advantage through the air.
» The Little Giants scored first with 8:30 left in the first quarter and never trailed the rest of the game on their way to victory.
» Wabash had its highest-scoring quarter in the second period, putting up 28 points.
» Wabash converted 5 of 10 third downs while Hiram was successful on 4 of 12.
» Wabash scored four second-quarter touchdowns.
» Wabash went 3-for-3 on fourth down, converting on 100 percent of attempts.
» Wabash won the time of possession battle 34:35 to 25:25.
» Wabash got off to a great start in the contest, putting 45 unanswered points on the board before Hiram could respond.
» Thompson completed 90.5% of his passes on the day, going 19-for-21 while averaging 16.9 yards per attempt.
» Sean Tejeda led the Terriers passing attack, completing 17 of his 27 attempts for 224 yards and two touchdowns.
» Raequan Davis-Hereford was Hiram's leading receiver with 75 yards and one touchdown.