October 2, 2010
"Our guys have practiced that and they practice hard,"
Raeburn said ."The last two weeks our punt block team has
been fantastic. The thing is there is like four different guys
who've blocked punts. It's just not one guy doing a
good job. I'm been real proud of those kids and Coach (Steve)
Rogers preparing them."
Horn caught his second TD of the game late in the third period.
That one was a 34-yarder. Junior Issac Baker ended the scoring with
a five-yard catch in the fourth.
Wabash's Four-TD Barrage Buries Kenyon
GAMBIER, Ohio – Most coaches would be happy with one big special teams' play a game. Wabash Coach Erik Raeburn has watched his punt block team knock down six kicks in the last three games including two Saturday enroute to a 40-3 win over Kenyon.
That doesn't take into
account the number of special team deflections that kept punts
short, setting up the Little Giant offense in strong field
position.
"Our guys have practiced that and they practice hard,"
Raeburn said ."The last two weeks our punt block team has
been fantastic. The thing is there is like four different guys
who've blocked punts. It's just not one guy doing a
good job. I'm been real proud of those kids and Coach (Steve)
Rogers preparing them."Blocked punts propelled Wabash
to a 28-3 halftime lead after trailing 3-0. Another positive is the
key play Saturday featured a sophomore and freshman.
"Markell Brown had a punt
block in his first start as a freshman," Raeburn said.
"Jonathan Koop, he just times it up right He gets in there
when the ball is bouncing around and he knows what to do with it.
Koop has come up with a big play every game this season.
We've been real happy with the way he's
played."
Freshman Brown and sophomore
Koop combined on a big play with just over two minutes remaining.
It started with Wabash getting on the board after a long drive when
Chase Belton found freshman James Kraus all alone in the end zone
with five minutes left in the half. On the next possession a Kenyon
fumble was turned into a quick score capped by
Belton's 6-yard run.
Then it was time for the two
youngster's magic. Brown broke through the middle of the
Kenyon line and knocked down the punt. Koop picked it up and ran 20
yards for the score. In a matter of just under three minutes,
Kenyon went from a 3-0 lead to down 21-3.
But the barrage wasn't
over. Kyle Najar picked off a Kenyon pass to set up Wabash at the
Lord 26-yard line. Belton completed the four-touchdown explosion by
connecting with Jonathan Horn for a nine-yard scoring pass.
Horn caught his second TD of the game late in the third period.
That one was a 34-yarder. Junior Issac Baker ended the scoring with
a five-yard catch in the fourth.Horn's effort was a career
best with 13 catches for 195 yards and two scores. Besides the
34-yard scoring catch he also had a 49-yard catch.
"We studied a lot of film
this week me, coach, Brady (Young) and all the receivers,"
Horn said. "We picked out their weaknesses. They
weren't the tallest or most physical
cornerbacks."
Horn admitted that the loss of
Kody LeMond and Wes Chamblee caused him to step up his practice
work. "I put a of pressure on myself just to help me work
through the week. I'm not trying to be Kody or Wes. I just
felt like Brady and I needed to step up and so far we've been
able to do that."
The effort hasn't gone
unnoticed by Coach Raeburn. "Jon has really stepped up with
injuries to Kody and Wes. We really need him to be the go-to guy.
As teams decide to blitz us and play some man coverage, we feel
like when he's dialed in Jon can get open. We're going
to need huge games from him every week."
Horn's big game partially
over shadowed Belton's career best 399 passing yards on 31 of
41 with two interceptions and four touchdowns.
Another impressive effort came
from sophomore Derek Rowe's 39 yards on 8 carries in the
second quarter. Derrick Yoder had 34 and Belton added 30 yards
rushing for the Little Giants.
Defensively, C.J. Gum led the
way with eight tackles. Jake Martin, Austin Hodges, and Sam Smith
added four stops apiece.
As a team, Wabash rolled up 542
yards of offense to the Lords' 162. The defense held Kenyon
to just 57 yards rushing.
The biggest negative out of this
non-conference win was again penalties. The Little Giants were
flagged 14 times for 115 yards.
"We moved the ball up and
down the field but we're making so many penalities,"
Raeburn lamented. "We gain 10 yards and lose 10 yards on a
penalty and most of them are just stupid. It's one thing to
get a holding or a block in the back when you're playing fast
but we've had so many false start penalties and illegal
procedures it's just killing us."
Wabash travels to Washington
University in St. Louis Saturday.
