GAMBIER, Ohio - The Kenyon College Lords engaged in an offensive shootout with the College of Wooster Fighting Scots on Saturday at McBride Field. The Lords appeared to have the edge with a 42-28 lead in the fourth quarter, but Wooster rallied to score 21 unanswered points and escaped with a 49-42 victory.

It was a heartbreaking loss for Kenyon, which reached a season-high for points scored while piling up 436 yards of offense. Wooster also set a team-high in points scored and racked up 496 yards of offense with 206 of those yards gained in the fourth quarter alone. The two teams now share the same 2-6 overall and 2-5 North Coast Athletic Conference records.

Kenyon's offensive numbers were stellar. Senior quarterback Jake Bates threw for a career-high 297 yards and tied his career-best with three touchdowns. All three touchdown tosses went to junior receiver Brian Hunca, who also set career-bests with 15 catches for 210 yards. On the ground, sophomore Ian Bell got loose for 72 yards and a touchdown on 10 carries and senior Blake Calcei returned from injury to rack up 52 yards and two touchdowns on 16 carries.


The Bates to Hunca connection logged its final touchdown with 7:54 left in the game and the Lords had a two-score advantage. Wooster back-up quarterback Gary Muntean then went to work. He exploited the Lords through the air, where they were most vulnerable. Knowing Kenyon was without both of its starting corners, Muntean began picking apart the inexperienced Kenyon secondary.

It took less than two minutes after Kenyon scored for the Scots to answer. Muntean directed a seven-play 62-yard drive that ended with a 15-yard touchdown strike to receiver Adam Coppock. Kenyon went three-and-out on its next possession, but Bell managed to push the Scots back to their own 13-yard line with a 52-yard punt.

The field position didn't seem to matter. Muntean completed passes of 6, 29, 19, 11 and 12 yards before capping off an 11-play, 87-yard drive with a three-yard touchdown pass to Tyson Vogel. That drive, which took only 2:10 to complete, tied the score at 42-42 with 2:46 remaining in the game.

Kenyon again looked to answer, but the first play of its next drive was disastrous. A quick pass from Bell to Hunca looked good for a six-yard gain, but as Hunca was going to the turf he fumbled and Wooster linebacker Patrick Johnson was there for the recovery on the Kenyon 41-yard line.

With plenty of time to work with, Muntean did not lose any of his momentum. He ran for seven yards and then completed a 28-yard pass play to Vogel. He ran again for a nine-yard gain and then crossed the goal line on a two-yard run that put the Scots ahead for good.

Muntean, who entered the game in Wooster's first series after starting quarterback David Smith left with an injury, wound up completing 29-of-42 attempts for 401 yards and four touchdowns. He also ran for 41 yards and two touchdowns. In the air, his most-used receiver was Coppock, who hauled in 11 passes for 118 yards.

Aside from Hunca's three scores and Calcei's two, Kenyon's other touchdown came from Bell, who scored on ten-yard run to tie the game up at 7-7 in the first quarter. It was a tight game throughout. Kenyon's 42-28 lead was the only time in the game that the teams' were separated by more than a touchdown. The score was tied at five different times.

Although both defenses struggled, sophomore safety Curt Williams had a huge day for Kenyon. He amassed a game-high 18 tackles, was in on two tackles-for-losses and he picked off a Wooster pass in the end zone.