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Jered Glover

The Tigers turned to the big play to defeat visiting Thomas More College 56-28 at Edwards-Maurer Field on Saturday.

After the Saints opened the scoring with a seven-yard touchdown run by Myrion Hopkins, the Tigers' Jered Glover (Middletown, Ohio/Middletown) turned things around in a hurry with a school-record 96-yard kickoff return for a touchdown to make the score 7-6. Just before the end of the first quarter, the Tigers struck again to take the lead for good as tailback Raymar Hampshire (Lima, Ohio/Elida) scored on a one-yard touchdown plunge, and he added the two-point conversion.

Hampshire added a five-yard scoring run to open the second-quarter scoring, and then linebacker Gary George (Cincinnati, Ohio/Purcell Marian) got into the act, picking off a Thomas More pass and rumbling 30 yards to paydirt. Then wide receiver Skip Ivery (Columbus, Ohio/Groveport-Madison) and quarterback Ryan Holmes (Oxford, Ohio/Talawanda) combined to open the game up on a 35-yard touchdown pass play with 31 seconds left before halftime.

In the second half, a bad snap to punter Jacob Thomas (New Albany, Ohio/New Albany) led to a fumble recovery for a touchdown. Then Glover went back to work, catching a screen pass and turning it into a 36-yard touchdown reception. The third quarter concluded with Hampshire's third score of the game, this one coming from 54 yards out on a screen pass from Holmes. Freshman Jason Hartzler (Cincinnati, Ohio/Turpin) found the end zone for the first time in his career with a 29-yard scoring run with 5:56 left to cap the Tigers' scoring on the day.

The two teams each posted 22 first downs and the net yardage was 424 for the Saints and 440 for Wittenberg. The difference was turnovers and the timing of them - Wittenberg recorded five interceptions, returning one for a touchdown and making two of the plays in the end zone, while the Tigers' two fumbles were not converted into points. Individually, Wittenberg got 111 yards on 17 carries from Hampshire, 69 yards on 10 carries from freshman Joe Brumfield (Springfield, Ohio/Kenton Ridge) and 45 yards on four carries from freshman fullback Tyler Harmon (Indianapolis, Ind./Perry Meridian). Ivery totaled 64 yards on four receptions and Glover finished 154 all-purpose yards (22 rushing, 36 receiving and 96 kickoff returns). Holmes finished with 166 yards, no interceptions and three touchdowns on just seven completions in 11 attempts.

Defensively, Wittenberg got a tremendous game from freshman safety Mitch Fonseca (Miami, Fla./Christopher Columbus), who had 13 tackles, one interception and one pass defensed. Senior linebackers Peter Franz (Chagrin Falls, Ohio/Kenston) and George had eight tackles apiece, and sophomoreBrandon Slade (Louisville, Colo./Monarch) finished with three tackles and two interceptions, including one in the end zone in the first half.