Wabash depauw bell game

Thompson said the team made very few adjustments at halftime. Andries completed seven passes on the drive, including a high-flying, acrobatic catch by Jaylon Smith at the one yard-line, and Gus Baumgartner ran it in from there. The rest of the third quarter belonged to Wabash. The defense tightened up and the running game got rolling.

The defense forced a quick three-and-out on the next series, and Thompson wasted no time pulling Wabash even at all. He hit sophomore Derek Allen for a yard bomb, picked up another 15 yards on a DePauw roughing the passer penalty, and bought time with his feet to allow Clayborne to get open for a yard touchdown grab.

The Wabash defense got physical and forced the Tigers into a three-and-out on their next two possessions. Four plays later, Wabash had its first lead of the game when sophomore Donovan Snyder ripped off a yard touchdown run. Jake Handley missed the extra point, his only miscue of the day, and Wabash led with to play. DePauw got one first down on its next drive before punting, and Wabash took over at their own 13 yard-line with to play and a six-point lead. Coach Morel stuck to his game plan — run the ball and pass when necessary.

The Wabash crowd roared with every first down as the clock ticked, ticked, ticked down. Thompson ranks eighth in the nation in passing yards 2, and 17th in passing touchdowns 27 among Division III quarterbacks this season. He has thrown at least one touchdown pass in every game this season, including a season-high four TD strikes against Hiram in week two. Cooper Sullivan leads a deep receiving corps of targets for Thompson. Sullivan has caught 53 passes for yards and seven TDs this season.

Derek Allen has enjoyed a break-out year with 39 catches for yards and five TDs. Tight end Jackson Clayborne has caught five touchdown passes among his 24 receptions this season. Nick Hamman adds 28 catches and yards to the mix of 10 different players to catch a pass this season for Wabash.

Joey Annee leads the Wabash special teams unit and is among the overall leaders in punting this season. His average of Jacob Handley has connected on extra points with a streak of 10 consecutive PATs coming into the game. He has also made four field goals this season with two career-long yard kicks.

The Tigers clinched the berth with a home victory against Oberlin. DePauw produced a school-record passing yards with starter Chase Andries completing of passes for yards and five TDs.

Andries has thrown 2, yards and 19 touchdowns while completing DePauw ranks second in the conference in both total offense and defense. The Tigers' DePauw has limited opposing teams to an average of yards per game.

A Wabash turnover on the first possession gave the Tigers great field position, and sophomore running back Gus Baumgartner scored almost untouched from 14 yards out to give DePauw a lead. A quick three-and-out from the normally potent Wabash offense gave DePauw the ball back, and led by senior quarterback Chase Andries, the hero of the Monon Bell Classic, the Tigers marched down the field. He completed passes of 26 and 36 yards before Baumgartner punched it in from four yards out to put the Tigers up Staring down a three-score deficit, Morel decided to stick with the run game.

It was the same play-card the whole game. Another methodical, run-heavy drive for Wabash was capped by a jet-sweep touchdown for receiver Heisman Skeens from one yard out, and the Little Giants got some crucial momentum heading into halftime. We just stuck with the gameplan and it worked out.

The Tigers scored on their first drive of the second half as Baumgartner found the end zone for the third time, but that was all the DePauw offense was able to generate. Thompson and Skeens connected for a yard touchdown to cut the lead to one score, , and after another quick stop from the defense, Thompson found tight end Jackson Clayborne to tie the score.