GRANVILLE-- Denison outscored the College of Wooster 28-0 in the third quarter en route to a 45-7 victory in front of a near capacity crowd at Piper Stadium.  With the win, Denison retains the Old Red Lantern for the fifth time in six seasons.

After a somewhat sluggish first half, the Big Red entered the locker room with a 10-7 lead.  The Wooster defense forced Denison to punt on their first possession of the second half.  The Fighting Scots responded with a nine-play 52-yard drive that culminated in a missed 43-yard field attempt that could have tied the game at 10-10.

That seemed to be the jolt the Big Red offense needed.

On second down from their own 29, quarterback Canaan Gebele called his own number and scampered 38 yards to the Wooster 33.  He followed that with completions of 20 yards and 19 yards to Joshua Shackleford and David Weimar, respectively.  On first and goal, Gebele finished off the drive with a 6-yard touchdown run, giving Denison a 17-7 lead.

The turning point in the game came on the ensuing possession.  Facing a fourth and two from their own 28, Wooster opted for the fake punt that was stuffed for no gain by the Denison defense.  DU took over on the Wooster 28 and on first down, Gebele went for the jugular, hitting Richard Wehman III on a 28-yard scoring strike to put the Big Red on top, 24-7.

The Fighting Scots struggled in the running game all afternoon and in the second half, the Denison defensive line began to impose its will to the tune of a school-record nine sacks.

After a Wooster three-and-out, Gebele finished off a three play, 56-yard drive with a 47-yard touchdown run.  With just over three minutes to play in the third quarter, David Carter took a jet sweep 25 yards for the team's fourth touchdown of the period.  In the third quarter, Denison outgained Wooster 230-46 even though the Scots held a slight advantage in time of possession.

Denison outgained Wooster 473-208 and was balanced, rushing for 207 yards while passing for 266.  The nine sacks by the Denison defense resulting in -64 yards for the Wooster offense.  In 39 rushing attempts, they finished with a net of nine rushing yards.

Andrew Baird racked up a game-high 14 tackles and one pass break-up.  Zach Neufeld posted eight tackles and 2.5 sacks.  Hayden Hatten checked in with eight stops and 1.5 tackles while first-year defensive end Nate Keirn led the sack brigade with three for a loss of 24 yards.  DU's only interception was recorded by Lucas Gunkel late in the second quarter.

Gebele totaled 337 yards of total offense in the win (123 rushing, 214 passing) while accounting for five touchdowns.  Cody Farley had five receptions for 36 yards.  Charlie Mueller led the team with 48 yards receiving powered by a 38-yard touchdown catch in the second quarter.

Wooster quarterback Gary Muntean entered the game among the nation's leaders in passing yardage with 1,165 yards in three games.  He was limited to a season-low 199 yards on 19-of-32 passing.

Denison improves to 3-0 and will return to Piper Stadium next Saturday for a 1 p.m. kickoff against Ohio Wesleyan University.

BACKGROUND BEHIND THE OLD RED LANTERN: The tradition began in 1989, when the two schools were commemorating the 100th anniversary of their first meeting on the football field (Nov. 23, 1889). The lantern represents the railroad light the teams used to travel by in their early meetings at the turn of the century. This marked the 85th meeting in the all-time series between DU and Wooster and the 22nd time the two colleges have played for the lantern.