GRANVILLE, Ohio (October 23, 2021) – For the third home game in a row, the Denison University football team found itself behind by at least two touchdowns in the first quarter, but 28 unanswered points by the Big Red sparked a 52-point scoring outburst for the home team over the final three quarters. In the end, Denison defeated the College of Wooster 52-28 to win the Battle of the Old Red Lantern for the seventh time in a row.

After a 58-yard touchdown pass by Wooster took advantage of a Denison fumble near midfield and made it 14-0 toward the end of the first quarter, Denison answered with a 41-yard rushing touchdown by Andrew Blanchard to get on the scoreboard less than three minutes into the second quarter.

Then after a three-and-out by Wooster on its next drive, Denison went 77 yards in 13 plays and scored on a little trickeration as running back Trey Fabrocini passed to tight end Mack Marston for the nine-yard score to tie the game with five minutes left before halftime.

Then after a second straight three-and-out by the Fighting Scots, Fabrocini was the recipient of a 38-yard catch-and-run from Drew Dawkins to put the Big Red up 21-14 at the intermission.

The Big Red did not slow down at all in the second half as the two teams combined for three touchdowns on each of the first three possessions of the third quarter. For Denison, the second half started with a nine-play, 65-yard drive finishing with a one-yard touchdown by Fabrocini, followed by a nine-play, 70-yard drive finishing with a one-yard touchdown by Blanchard.

On the first drive of the fourth quarter, Wooster turned the ball over on downs to Denison only 35 yards away from the endzone, and three plays later a 25-yard pass from Dawkins to Josh Aiello doubled up the score at 42-21 Big Red.

Dawkins would add a 34-yard touchdown pass to Billy Guzzo on its next drive after once again starting in Wooster territory; and then in the final two and a half minutes of the game, Pat Kramer connected on a 42-yard field goal to make it 52-21. Kramer was also a perfect 7-for-7 on his extra-point attempts.

After going down 14-0 back in the first quarter, Denison scored touchdowns on seven of its next nine drives.

Dawkins finished by completing 17 of his 29 passes for a season-high 291 yards and three touchdowns. It was his second straight game with three passing touchdowns. Aiello caught five of those passes for a career-high 101 yards while Fabrocini, Aidan Brownlee, Marston and DJ Johnson all had three catches for at least 30 yards.

On the ground, Blanchard rushed 14 times for 125 yards and two touchdowns, and finished with an awesome 8.9 yards per rush. Fabrocini rushed 16 times for 63 yards and accounted for three total touchdowns (1 passing, 1 receiving, 1 rushing). Blanchard has scored on the ground in five straight games and has amassed six touchdowns during that stretch. Fabroncini has scored one the ground in three straight games and leads the Big Red with seven rushing touchdowns on the season.

Dawkins added 36 yards on the ground on eight attempts as Denison finished with 230 rushing yards as a team for the third time this season.

Jeff Moore led the Denison defensive effort with 10 total tackles and a forced fumble while Will Thomas was next with nine tackles, Clay Denstorff had eight, and Francis Fay and Jonathan Bearden both had six.

Denison (5-2 overall, 5-1 North Coast Athletic Conference) has averaged over 43 points per game during its current seven-game winning streak against Wooster (4-3, 3-3). Additionally, the Big Red are now in second place in the NCAC with a huge matchup against the first-place team in the league, DePauw University, up next.

Denison and DePauw will square off at 1 p.m. on Saturday, October 30, in Greencastle, Indiana. Although Denison has won each of its last two games against the Tigers, including a 42-7 victory in their last meeting in 2019, DePauw is currently 6-0 in the NCAC with its only loss this season being a hard-fought 29-24 defeat to NCAA Division I Butler in its season opener.