Crawfordsville, Ind. - After Wabash scored on the opening drive of the Monon Bell game, DePauw reached paydirt on five straight possessions and took a 41-20 North Coast Athletic Conference win in the 131st meeting between the schools. Wabash holds a 63-59-9 overall lead in the rivalry and 44-43-6 in Monon Bell games which entered the series in 1932.

DePauw, ranked 11th in the latest coaches' poll and 15th by D3football,com, moved to 9-1 overall and finished North Coast Athletic Conference play at 7-1. The Little Giants, ranked 23rd by the coaches and 24th by D3football.com, dropped to 8- 2 overall and 6-2 in NCAC play.

DePauw will await official word of an at-large berth into the NCAA Division III Championship. The full bracket will be announced on NCAA.com tomorrow at 5 p.m.

Wabash took the opening kickoff and drove 78 yards in 13 plays with Xavier Tyler scoring on an 8-yard run with 9:21 left in the opening stanza. The Little Giants' defense recorded a three-and-out and, after a punt, the hosts took over on their own 48. The Little Giants converted a third down before Joey Roland picked off Brand Campbell at the Tigers' 39 and returned it to the 42.

DePauw's offense converted a third down near midfield and a Wabash pass interference penalty three plays later gave the Tigers the ball at the Little Giants 11. Faced with third-and-eight from the 9, Scott Ballentine tossed a touchdown pass to Lleyton Lukowski to even the score with 2:35 left in the first.

The Tigers' defense recorded another three-and-out and the offense needed eight plays to cover 82 yards with Carson Johnson scoring on a 24-yard run with 13:40 left in the first half.

DePauw's defense forced a punt and the offense took over on its own 20. A 26-yard completion from Scott Ballentine to Evan Pitzer on the second play moved the ball to the Wabash 49. Scott Ballentine capped the drive with a 9-yard pass to Palmer Samuels to lift the Tigers to a 21-7 lead with 7:18 remaining in the half.

Wabash advanced into DePauw territory on its next possession, but was again forced to punt. Starting on its own 7, DePauw covered the 93 yards in 13 plays with Lukowski reaching high to make the grab on a 21-yard toss from Scott Ballentine to make it 28-7 with just five seconds left.

DePauw fumbled the opening kickoff of the second half but the ball rolled out-of-bounds with the Tigers starting the drive at their own 11. After the Tigers crossed midfield, Scott Ballentine connected with Lukowski for a 43-yard gain to the Wabash 1 and Caden Whitehead scored on the next play. The extra-point was off the mark and the Tigers lead moved to 34-7 with 9:20 remaining in the third.

The teams exchanged punts before the Little Giants drove 62 yards in six plays with Campbell tossing an 11-yard pass to Rowen Durbin to cut the deficit to 34-14 with 3:28 remaining in the third. 

Wabash's defense posted another three-and-out and the Little Giants drove to the DePauw 15, but the Tigers' defense made a stand.

The teams again exchanged punts and DePauw extended the lead to 41-14 after Scott Ballentine threw a 14-yard scoring pass to Robby Ballentine with 10:46 remaining.

The Little Giants wrapped up the scoring with 1:30 left as Tyler scored on a 2-yard run.

Scott Ballentine completed 24-of-35 passes for 328 yards and four touchdowns which tied a Monon Bell record. Robby Ballentine caught seven for 80 yards with Lukowski finishing with five catches for 88 yards. Whitehead rushing for 55 yards in 13 tries, while Johnson totaled 50 rushing yards on 10 tries.

Campbell completed 15-of-24 passes for 197 yards with one touchdown and one interceptions. Luke Adams caught nine for 189 yards. Tyler rushed for 14 yards on seven attempts.

Owen Rossell led the Tigers with nine tackles including 1.5 sacks, while Aaron Wagner finished with seven stops. Chris Green paced the Tigers with 2.5 sacks as DePauw totaled six as a team. 

Gavin Ruppert finished with 10 tackles for Wabash and Samuel Poriah added nine.

DePauw outgained Wabash 469-325 including 141-32 on the ground. The Tigers held a 27-19 advantage in first downs and converted 8-of-13 third downs while holding Wabash to just 4-of-13 on third downs.


NOTES

• With his seven receptions, Robby Ballentine broke the NCAC career receptions record of 241 held by Kenyon's Brian Hunca (2013-16). He now has 244.
• DePauw's defense held Wabash to just 32 rushing yards which marked the 22nd straight opponent the Tigers have held under 100 rushing yards.
• The DePauw seniors won the Monon Bell for the fourth straight year, marking the first time DePauw has accomplished the feat since 2000.
• DePauw's seniors moved their four-year record to 39-5 which matches the program record of 39 wins set last year.
• With the 41 points, DePauw has scored at least 33 points in five straight Monon Bell games which no team had accomplished previously.
• With his touchdown run, Caden Whitehead moved into second place in program history with 31 career touchdown runs.
• Matthew Berry booted five extra-points and broke the DePauw career record of 130 by Marko Adams (2013-16). Berry's total is now 133.
• Scott Ballentine's four touchdown passes moved his season total to 30 which is tied for the second most in program history in a season.
• The victory was the 50th for DePauw head coach Brett Dietz in just 58 games.
• Scott Ballentine's 328 passing yards are the most by a DePauw passer in a Monon Bell game since Spud Dick's 380 yards in 2009 and the third-most by a DePauw quarterback since 1952.