It took a little less than one half of football for the Wittenberg University Tigers to get in gear. Once they did, the gear that the four-time defending North Coast Athletic Conference champions found was fifth as they raced past visiting Heidelberg College 59-7 in front of a Community Night crowd of 3,215 at Edwards-Maurer Field in Springfield.
Heidelberg, winless in its last 14 games stretching back to the 1999 season, got on the board first in the game, striking for seven points on a 61-yard run by Gary Tope early in the second quarter. The Tigers answered immediately as sophomore wide receiver Skip Ivery (Columbus, Ohio/Groveport-Madison) caught a 24-yard touchdown pass from junior quarterback Greg Cornett (Franklin, Ohio/Franklin) to cap an 11-play, 80-yard scoring drive with 9:39 left in the second quarter.
From that point it was all Wittenberg. On the ensuing drive, Heidelberg went three plays and out before Wittenberg junior defensive back Dane Dudley (West Chester, Ohio/Lakota East) burst through to block a punt. Senior wide receiver Michael Aljancic (Louisville, Ohio/Louisville) hauled in a 34-yard scoring strike from Cornett on the very next play to give the Tigers a lead they wouldn't relinquish.
Dudley capped the first-half scoring by blocking a second punt a minute later and returning it 27 yards for a touchdown.
In the second half, junior running back Daniel Grove (Uhrichsville, Ohio/Claymont) scored two touchdowns, junior running back Jason Stephan (Brookville, Ohio/Brookville) scored one TD, freshman kicker Jacob Thomas (New Albany, Ohio/New Albany) booted his first career field goal, and then freshman running back Justin Blackley (Cincinnati, Ohio/Purcell Marian) capped things with a pair of long scoring runs.
For the game, Grove rambled for 169 yards on 16 carries, Blackley picked up 106 yards on just eight carries and Stephan accounted for 46 yards on 10 carries. Cornett had one of the finest days for a Wittenberg quarterback, finishing 11-for-13 for 167 yards and two touchdowns. He misfired on his first and last passes of the day, completing 11 in a row in between.
In terms of team statistics, Wittenberg outgained their Ohio Athletic Conference foes 527-224. The Tigers picked up 380 yards rushing.
Defensively, junior linebacker Ryan Gresham (Columbus, Ohio/Eastmoor) was all over the field, leading the Tigers with 11 tackles, including one for a five-yard loss. Senior defensive end Tim Daoust (Toledo, Ohio/Central Catholic) had four tackles, three of which were sacks to up his career total to 25.