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Jim Lackmeyer

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Greg Cornett

All good things must come to an end. On a perfect afternoon for football, that's exactly what happened. The Tigers had streaks of 30 straight North Coast Athletic Conference victories and 36 consecutive regular season home wins snapped as Wabash pulled out a 46-43 overtime victory Saturday.

Billed by many as the Game of the Year in the NCAC, two senior-laden teams started out in a defensive struggle and wound up in an offensive shootout, won by Wabash in the first overtime on a 27-yard field goal. Wittenberg, winner of five straight NCAC titles, fell to 4-1 overall and 1-1 in the conference with the loss, the Tigers' first since Nov. 4, 1997.

The scoring started with 5:24 left in the first quarter as Wittenberg sophomore defensive tackle Joey Binkley (Brookville, Ohio/Brookville) blocked a pass senior defensive end Jim Lackmeyer (Cincinnati, Ohio/Purcell Marian) caught the deflection and went 22 yards for the score. Then with 2:53 remaining in the opening stanza, senior tailback Daniel Grove (Uhrichsville, Ohio/Claymont) went 80 yards on two carries.

Wabash came back to score three touchdowns in the second quarter to take a 21-14 lead into the locker room at halftime.

The second half was a fine back-and-forth affair. In the third quarter, Wabash scored twice and the Tigers responded with a pair of scoring receptions by junior wide receiver Skip Ivery (Columbus, Ohio/Groveport-Madison) from senior quarterback Greg Cornett (Franklin, Ohio/Franklin). The difference, however, was that Wabash made both extra points, while Wittenberg had the first attempt blocked and then had a two-point conversion attempt fail.

In the fourth quarter, Wabash struck first with a touchdown and two-point conversion. Facing a 17-point deficit, the Tiger defense stiffened and the offense drove to a 19-yard field goal by sophomore Jacob Thomas (New Albany, Ohio/New Albany), an eight-yard scoring reception for senior wide receiver Adrian Crane (Indianapolis, Ind./Ben Davis) on a pass from Cornett, and Grove tied it with a two-yard run and two-point conversion with just 3:24 remaining on the clock.

Overtime ended as regulation began for Wittenberg, unfortunately. The Tiger offense had a late opportunity to win the game, but an interception stifled the rally with about a minute remaining and then in the extra session the offense couldn't pick up a first down and a field goal attempt went wide right. Wabash picked up one first down and then kicked the winning field goal on third down from the 10 yard line.

It was an amazingly even game on the scoreboard and on the statistics sheet. Wabash finished with 506 yards of total offense, while the Tigers had 497, including a 373-367 advantage through the air in a match-up of the two best quarterbacks in the NCAC.

Cornett had his best statistical game as a starter, setting a school record with 33 completions for 367 yards, a total that ranks No. 2 in school history. Grove had 91 yards and two touchdowns on 17 carries and Ivery finished with eight receptions for 91 yards and two scores. In addition, Crane had seven catches for 101 yards and freshman Jered Glover (Middletown, Ohio/Middletown) added 10 receptions for 121 yards. On defense, the Tigers got 11 tackles from senior linebacker Ryan Gresham (Columbus, Ohio/Eastmoor) and 10 more from senior safety Andy Waddle (Springfield, Ohio/Greenon).

Everyone now wants to know what's next for the Tigers, who were ranked No. 16 in the latest American Football Coaches Association poll. The answer is that Wittenberg is still just one game back in the race for the conference crown and is a front-runner for an at-large berth in the national tournament should the Tigers win the rest of their games. That task was made more difficult by the revelation that Grove and back-up tailback Jason Stephan (Brookville, Ohio/Brookville) were both injured in the loss to Wabash. Grove is out at least three weeks with broken bones in his foot. The road back to the playoffs begins again this weekend at 0-5 Hiram.