WOOSTER, Ohio (November 5, 2022) – The Denison University football team defeated the College of Wooster to win the Battle of the Old Red Lantern for the eighth season in a row, this time winning 28-14 on the road behind a three-touchdown day and a career-high 223 rushing yards from junior Trey Fabrocini. With the win, Denison now improves to 7-2 overall and 5-2 in conference play while Wooster falls to 5-4 and 3-4.

After entering the game ranking third in program history with 15 rushing touchdowns so far this season, Fabrocini surpassed Eric Ivary (17 touchdowns in 1966) and tied Alex Minton (18 touchdowns in 2019) for the Big Red single-season record for rushing touchdowns still with one game to go.

Additionally, Fabrocini's 223 rushing yards on Saturday are tied for the 11th most in a single game in program history while his 1,097 total rushing yards so far this season rank ninth in program history.

Drew Dawkins chipped in offensively by throwing 14-for-24 for 112 yards and completing five passes to Mack Marston for 35 yards and a touchdown. For Dawkins, his 18 passing touchdowns so far this season are tied for the fifth most in program history while for Marston, his 48 receptions are tied for 13th in a single season.

On defense, Denison was led by Jack Nimesheim with seven tackles and an interception while Clay Denstorff added six tackles and two tackles for loss and Michael Ballenger had four tackles.

After Wooster scored first just over six minutes into the game with a 62-yard touchdown pass from Mateo Renteria just two plays after an interception by the Fighting Scots in the Wooster endzone, Denison turned its focus to the running game and answered with a long 17-play, 75-yard drive on its next possession.

Each of the first 10 plays of that drive were runs by four different players to get Denison within the Wooster 30-yard line, and then on fourth-down-and-eight from the 23-yard line, Dawkins came up with a 10-yard completion to Marston to pick up the first down and keep the drive alive.

Jon Adamson picked up the next first down and got it down to the one-yard line with a with a six-yard reception on third-and-four, and then one play later Fabrocini punched it in with a run up the middle to make it 7-7 at the end of the first quarter.

Wooster then opened the second quarter with a 13-play, 80-yard drive that featured a 26-yard pass from Renteria to tight end Cole Hissong to get it down to the two-yard line, followed by a two-yard rushing touchdown to make it 14-7.
 
After a punt by the Big Red on their next drive set the Fighting Scots up at midfield, the Denison defense got the ball back just three plays later when Nimesheim intercepted Renteria on third-and-25 and set Denison up just four yards shy of midfield.

The Denison offense would then end the half with another long 14-play, 54-yard drive that was capped off with a six-yard touchdown pass from Dawkins to Marston to make it 14-14 as the two teams went into the locker room.

Denison would receive the kick to open the second half and took its first lead as the Big Red put together yet another patented long drive, this one spanning 13 plays and 65 yards before ending with Fabrocini's second rushing touchdown of the game, this time from two yards out to make it 21-14.

The defense for Denison stepped up big in the second half and allowed only 19 yards on four plays in the third quarter. Then only four plays into the fourth quarter, Nathan Hallenbeck forced a fumble of Renteria and then recovered the fumble on the 50-yard line.

Fabrocini continued his career day as he started the ensuing drive with a 17-yard run and then finished it off with his third rushing touchdown, this one from three yards out, to put Denison ahead by two touchdowns at 28-14 with just under nine and a half minutes remaining.

After a big stop by the Denison defense on fourth-and-three from the Big Red 34-yard line on Wooster's next possession, the Denison offense took over with 5:38 left and was able to run the clock all the way down while never giving the Fighting Scots a chance to make a big comeback effort like they did the week before.

Denison outgained Wooster 411-260 on the day while outrushing the Fighting Scots 299-66. Denison also ran more than double the plays than Wooster at 87-42, possessed the ball for over 43 minutes, and picked up 29 first downs compared to 11 for the home team.

Denison finishes 4-1 on the road this season and will now host Kenyon College for Senior Day at 1 p.m. on Saturday, November 12.