For the fourth consecutive year, the Little Giants lost the Monon Bell Classic. On November 15, 2025, Wabash fell to the DePauw Tigers 20–41 at Little Giant Stadium in the 131st meeting of the two schools. The class of 2026 is one of the few graduating classes in Wabash history to have never hoisted the historic trophy.
The Little Giants started the contest looking like a well-oiled machine with a strong 13-play opening drive that lasted just over five minutes and stretched 78 yards, resulting in an Xavier Tyler ’26 rushing touchdown. The Wabash defense came up with a big stop on the Tigers’ first offensive possession, forcing a three-and-out and getting the ball back with a 7–0 lead.
But on the Little Giants’ second offensive foray, Brand Campbell ’27 threw an interception near mid-field, and the Tigers took advantage of the turnover by tying the game up at 7–7. From there, the momentum shifted, with the Tigers scoring 21 additional unanswered points before the end of the first half.
The Little Giants continued to battle it out through the end of the game, but never regained enough momentum to catch up to the Tigers’ commanding lead. DePauw had every answer to stop the efforts of the home team, securing a victory and the Monon Bell once again.
The highly anticipated matchup did not have conference championship implications on the line as John Carroll captured the NCAC title with an undefeated conference record, but there was an at-large bid for the NCAA DIII National Tournament at stake. By winning, DePauw secured a first-round bye and a second-round matchup against the University of Wisconsin–Whitewater. Even with the heartbreaking loss, Wabash’s impressive performance on the campaign earned them the chance to play in the second annual ForeverLawn Bowl hosted at the Tom Benson Hall of Fame Stadium in Canton, Ohio.
“We were obviously devastated [with the Bell Game loss], but the reality is, at some point, you have got to get up off the canvas and you have to face life again,” said Head Football Coach Jake Gilbert ’98. “You don’t get a choice. You also have to face the music when you haven’t done well. Our guys needed to get back together and heal together but then also hold each other accountable.”
“There was something that Head Track and Field Coach Clyde Morgan H’11 told me the Monday of the Bowl Game week,” said Team Captain Quinn Sholar ’26. “He said, ‘They can beat you, but they can’t break you.’ We took that back to the team and it started to help us rebuild ourselves. We were gaining the fortitude to reshape ourselves to come back stronger.”
Wabash squared off against the Ohio Northern University (ONU) Polar Bears on Saturday, November 22. The Polar Bears boasted an 8–3 overall record (7–1 record in the Ohio Athletic Conference) coming into the contest, and their only loss in conference play was to Mount Union, the perennial powerhouse that sits as the No. 2 team in the country according to D3football.com. All signs pointed to this bowl game being a competitive one, and the two teams did not disappoint.
Ohio Northern started the game with the ball, but Wabash swiftly forced a punt and gained possession of the ball. The Little Giants did not score a touchdown on their opening drive, but Brody Rucker ’26 provided a 3–0 lead through a made field goal. ONU scored a touchdown on their next offensive possession to take a 7–3 lead over the Little Giants – just the first indicator of how much the lead was going to change during the matchup. But Wabash responded to the Polar Bears’ touchdown with a point-scoring barrage.
Jackson Gilbert ’28, who made the start at the quarterback position due to Campbell suffering a concussion in the Bell Game, first connected with Kannon Chase ’26 for a 16-yard touchdown reception. Gilbert then found Luke Adams ’27 on a deep, 36-yard pass down the right side of the field which resulted in another touchdown. Gilbert reconnected with Chase in the early moments of the second quarter for Wabash’s third consecutive touchdown, giving the Little Giants a 24–7 lead.
The Polar Bears responded with back-to-back touchdowns of their own to close out the first half, but the Little Giants headed into the locker room for the mid-game break with a 24–21 lead.
There was very little action in the third quarter in terms of points, but ONU squared the game up at 24–24 courtesy of a 26-yard field goal.
The Polar Bears struck early in the fourth quarter to grab a 31–24 advantage. The rest of the quarter was looking like ONU was going to hold strong over the Little Giants, but Coach Gilbert had other ideas. In the final two minutes, the Wabash offense went on a 13-play drive that was capped off by a 23-yard touchdown pass from Gilbert to Nick Witte ’28 to pull the deficit to one point.
Instead of putting out his field goal unit, Coach Gilbert kept his offense on the field for a two-point conversion attempt. With the game on the line, Gilbert found Rowen Durbin ’27 to secure the last-second comeback victory and the ForeverLawn Bowl trophy.
“I asked Coach Casey Gillin, ‘Do we have a good two-point play?’” said Gilbert. “He told me, ‘Yeah.’ I said that we were going to take it down, score, go for two and win. That’s what I told the offense and the defense on the sideline, and that’s what happened.”
“I haven’t seen more of a ‘Wabash Always Fights’ drive in my life,” said Sholar. “We overcame two penalties, and then we overcame three fourth downs. It was crazy. I was holding Gatorades, and when he threw the ball, I threw my hands up and Gatorade was flying around.”
For the senior class, the Bowl game victory meant a tremendous amount as it was a fitting send-off for their Wabash careers.
“At the beginning of the season, the senior class sat down and talked about what it looks like to have a successful senior year,” said Sholar. “For all of the senior leaders to hop on board with the new coach, the new culture, and start to change the scene of Wabash football, that gave me the utmost respect for those guys.”
The Little Giant football program will enjoy some much-needed time off before getting back on the grind for the 2026 campaign where they hope to secure an NCAC title and bring the Monon Bell back to Crawfordsville.
“Our season starts now,” said Gilbert. “We just have to compete well and develop our guys. The biggest thing right now for me is that I want to increase toughness and really put our guys through a laborious off-season that demands that from them.”