GREENCASTLE, Ind. — For the second straight year, Nathan McCahill led the DePauw Tigers to a victory over the Wabash Little Giants in the Monon Bell game.
The 130th edition marked not only McCahill's second victory in the over a century-long rivalry game but also the third straight for the DePauw Tigers.
DePauw entered the game boasting an undefeated 9-0 record while Wabash lost earlier in the season to Wisconsin-Platteville, but was riding a six-game winning streak prior to Saturday. The Tigers' win also gave them the outright North Coast Athletic Conference championship for the fourth consecutive season.
From the moment of kickoff, the momentum always seemed to be in favor of the Tigers. While the team's first score wouldn't come until late in the first quarter, a 35-yard pass from McCahill to Lleyton Lukowski, the Wabash offense made little progress up against the Tigers' defense.
DePauw controlled the time of possession using a mix of run and pass plays while continuing to take advantage of a stalled Wabash offense. Just after the two-minute pause, McCahill found Gabe Quigley for a 28-yard touchdown pass to give the Tigers a two-score lead just before halftime.
However, Wabash was able to respond quickly as Little Giants quarterback Brand Campbell hit Connor Thompson for a 16-yard touchdown pass to make it a one score game at halftime.
Despite trailing 14-7 after two quarters, a Wabash comeback looked almost impossible during the second half. For every two DePauw touchdowns, Wabash could only respond with one. Little Giants running back Cole Dickerson found the end zone midway through the third quarter, but not until DePauw had already scored twice off a 75-yard pass from McCahill to Quigley and a 6-yard run from Caden Whitehead.
DePauw continued to pull away in the final quarter with Whitehead scoring his second rushing touchdown of the day before McCahill connected with Quigley once again for a 54-yard touchdown pass, marking McCahill's fourth and Quigley's third.
Even while trailing 42-14 late in the game, Wabash never gave up. The Little Giants scored with just seconds left on the clock thanks to a 15-yard touchdown pass from Campbell to T.J. Alexander. The loss dropped Wabash to 8-2 on the season. They now await their fate as an at-large bid for the NCAA Division III playoffs.
DePauw earns an automatic bid to the postseason thanks to their conference title.
