---

Peter Franz

The Wittenberg University football team put forth a gallant effort in the mud at Allegheny College Saturday but fell short 27-21. It was the first victory for perennial powerhouse Allegheny against Wittenberg since 1996, and, incredibly, the loss gave Wittenberg two regular season defeats for the first time since 1994.

Wittenberg's first score of the game came late in the first quarter as sophomore wide receiver Jered Glover (Middletown, Ohio/Middletown) took a short pass from junior quarterback Ryan Holmes (Oxford, Ohio/Talawanda) 65 yards to a touchdown. In the second quarter, Wittenberg got on the board again on a two-yard scoring burst by freshman fullback Tyler Harmon (Indianapolis, Ind./Perry Meridian).

In the second half, Wittenberg took its only lead of the game on a 25-yard scoring run by junior tailback Raymar Hampshire (Lima, Ohio/Elida) in the third stanza. But Allegheny came back to score its fourth touchdown of the day and then the Gators came up with several defensive stands to make the six-point margin stand up. As a team, Wittenberg finished with 413 total yards, including 259 on the ground. Allegheny posted a total of 356 yards, including 225 yards passing. The key to the game was turnovers as the Tigers had one interception and two fumbles. Individually, Wittenberg got 147 yards rushing on 26 carries from Hampshire and 99 yards on 21 carries from Harmon. Holmes finished with 11 completions on 21 attempts for 154 yards and Glover topped the receiving corps with 97 yards on four receptions.

Defensively, three players finished with seven total tackles - senior linebackerPeter Franz (Chagrin Falls, Ohio/Kenston), freshman safety Mitch Fonseca (Miami, Fla./Christopher Columbus) and junior defensive tackle Jarrett Brown (Columbus, Ohio/St. Charles). Sophomore safety Yusef Abdul-Zahir (Canton, Ohio/McKinley) had one interception for 15 yards and four total tackles.

The Tigers are back in action on Nov. 8 for the final road trip of the 2003 season at Huntingdon College in Montgomery, Ala. That game was originally scheduled to be against Kenyon College in Gambier, Ohio, but the Lords withdrew from conference play this season.