BEAVER FALLS, Pennsylvania – First-team D3football.com Preseason All-American Cole Hissong sparked The College of Wooster football team, which overcame a 19-0 deficit to beat Geneva College 33-25 in the season-opener on Saturday evening at Reeves Field.
Fueled by Hissong's play, the Fighting Scots finally started clicking just past the second quarter's midpoint. Senior quarterback Mateo Renteria found the star tight end for a chain-moving 23-yard gain on a third-and-14 play from just before midfield. A 15-yard roughing the passer penalty moved the Scots closer to paydirt, then Renteria went right back to Hissong, with that 28-yard connection moving the pigskin just shy of the goal line. Sophomore PT Fischer punched the ball in from a yard out for Wooster's first score of the night. Then, Hissong and junior center Bryce Kamphues took on three Geneva defenders on a special trick-play two-point conversion, and handily won that battle to pull Wooster within 19-8 with 5:28 to go in the first half.
Wooster's fortunes started to turn two plays into Geneva's next drive. Juniors Neil Clayton and Kobe Nadu converged on Geneva quarterback Brutus Ogilvie, and the ball came loose in the process. First-year Braydon Hudson came away with the ball, then Renteria went right to sophomore Andrew Hammer for a 34-yard touchdown strike on the first play from scrimmage. Renteria completed a two-point conversion pass to senior Troy Baughman that made it a 19-16 game with 4:40 left before halftime.
Sophomore Brazos Gadler, a high school teammate of Renteria, was the go-to target coming out of halftime, first with a 41-yard highlight-reel grab down the sideline on a third-and-23 play, then with 9- and 4-yard receptions. Later in the drive, Renteria spun away from pressure, then deposited a 13-yard touchdown pass into the open arms of Baughman. Senior Lake Barrett chipped through the extra point to make it a 23-19 game at the 10:54 mark of the third quarter.
Renteria, aided by a key Hissong block, capped the go-ahead drive off with a 5-yard touchdown run that came with 3:02 remaining in the third quarter. Leading up to the score, senior Andrew Yanssens plunged up the middle for two yards on fourth-and-1 and ripped off a 27-yard gain on the ensuing play.
Junior Alex White had Josh Syster wrapped up just past the line of scrimmage on the second play of the fourth quarter. That enabled senior Matt Ulishney to hit the running back high, prying the football loose in the process. Ulishney fell on the fumble, and Wooster later cashed in with a 32-yard Barrett field goal that upped the lead to 33-25 with 8:33 remaining.
Wooster's defense held off Geneva late in the fourth quarter. Junior Domenic DeMuth tackled Ogilvie at the line of scrimmage on a third-and-11 play from Wooster's 14 yard line, as the Golden Tornadoes' signal caller waited too long to make a pitch on the triple option. Hilton McClain Jr., Geneva's big playmaker, missed a pitch on the fourth-and-11 snap, and Clayton kept the speedster from gaining traction after he recovered the fumble 21 yards back. Later, senior Langston Williams stepped in front of McClain Jr. in the final 40 seconds to break up a third-down pass. Senior Brandon Holt sacked Ogilvie on the next play, to clinch the victory.
Geneva opened up its 19-0 lead, thanks in part to turnovers by Wooster on its first two drives of the year. The Golden Tornadoes scored on both drives following the takeaways.
Renteria completed 19-of-28 passes for 245 yards and two touchdowns. Hissong turned five receptions into 79 yards and became the ninth player in program history to surpass 1,500 career receiving yards. Gadler logged five receptions for 77 yards in his Wooster debut, while Yanssens gained 51 yards on 18 carries.
DeMuth led all players with 16 tackles on the night. Ulishney was next with 10, and seniors Ben Greenwood and Quincy Taylor finished with seven apiece.
Of note, with his field goal, Barrett became the fourth player in program history to log 20 career makes.
Tyler Lippiatt rushed for 127 yards on 28 carries, and Geneva finished with 261 yards on the ground.
Nicolas Ottaviani was the leading tackler for Geneva at 11.
Total offense was nearly even, with Wooster finishing at 296 yards and Geneva checking in with 306. Wooster recovered four Geneva fumbles and held the Golden Tornadoes to just 4-of-14 on third down.
Next, Wooster opens North Coast Athletic Conference play at Hiram College (0-1) on Saturday, September 10. Kickoff is set for noon.