Posted: Nov 15, 2003
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2003 Tiger Football Seniors
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Tim Gaal
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Setting The Scene:
The Wittenberg University football team can wrap up another outstanding season with a win against North Coast Athletic Conference rival Wooster Saturday at Edwards-Maurer Field in Springfield. The Tigers and Scots are both 7-2 overall in 2003, with the conference records stacking up at 3-2 for Wittenberg and 4-2 for Wooster.This weekend's game may not have NCAA Division III Playoff implications, nor will it have an effect on the NCAC title, which was sewn up last weekend by Allegheny. But it means a great deal for both teams. For starters, Wooster/Wittenberg is arguably the most intense rivalry in the NCAC, regardless of sport. In addition, Wittenberg has dominated the football series between the two teams, winning 25 of the last 26 games between the two teams dating back to 1948. And both teams have second place in the NCAC standings squarely in their sights, hardly something to sniff at in a season of tremendous parity, especially considering the youth on display in the Tigers' lineup in 2003.
Finally, Wittenberg has its nine seniors to play for. They will be recognized prior to the game. Their accomplishments are listed in the next note.
Senior Recognition Day:
Nine seniors will be honored prior to their final home game today at Edwards-Maurer Field. They are: Tim Gaal (Amanda, Ohio/Clearcreek), Gary George (Cincinnati, Ohio/Purcell Marian), Conrad Hindert (Terrace Park, Ohio/Mariemont), Peter Franz (Chagrin Falls, Ohio/Kenston), Chad Thompson (Ft. Thomas, Ky./Highlands), Andrew Wheeler (Dayton, Ohio/Kettering Alter), Kurt Forrest (Mechanicsburg, Ohio/Mechanicsburg), Skip Ivery (Columbus, Ohio/Groveport-Madison) and Mike Flickinger (Cincinnati, Ohio/Oak Hills). All nine have started at least three games for the 2003 team, and all have made great contributions to the Wittenberg football program.This year's senior class has a four-year record of 41-7, one of the best in school history. The group has been involved in three NCAA Division III Tournaments, spanning a total of seven games, and the Tigers won a pair of NCAC titles (2000 and 2001).
Offensive Leaders:
Junior Raymar Hampshire leads the Tigers' rushing attack with 877 yards and 16 touchdowns (including one receiving), and he is averaging 6.5 yards per carry. He is ably backed by freshman Joe Brumfield, who has 462 yards and four TDs on 91 carries. He has topped 100 yards on two occasions, including last week against Huntingdon after Hampshire went down with an injury in the first quarter. Freshman fullback Tyler Harmon has 64 rushes for 421 yards and six touchdowns in addition to his blocking duties. Against Allegheny, he was outstanding as he posted a career-high 99 rushing yards and caught two passes as well.Through the air, junior quarterback Ryan Holmes has 18 touchdowns, 1598 yards and four interceptions, all in the two games Wittenberg lost. He and sophomore back-up George Andress, who has completed 24-of-33 passes for 253 yards and four touchdowns in mop-up duty, have combined to post a pass efficiency rating of 166.4, which leads the NCAC by a wide margin. His chief targets have been senior Skip Ivery with 36 catches for 670 yards and 10 touchdowns, including an 83-yarder on the first play from scrimmage against Ohio Wesleyan, and sophomore Jered Glover with 37 receptions for 546 yards and seven touchdowns (including a school-record 96-yard kickoff return against Thomas More). The tandem combined for 102 receptions in 2002.
Defensive Leaders:
The Tigers, who have led the NCAC in total defense 10 of the last 11 years, have played well on that side of the ball again in 2003. Despite often playing a half-dozen or more freshmen and sophomores at any given time, the unit is holding opponents to 270.8 yards and 15.9 points per game, although the latter figure is deceiving considering that the Tigers have yielded touchdowns on a fumble return, a blocked punt and an interception return, none of which were scored on the Tiger defense.Linebacker Gary George leads the team with 71 tackles, including nine for a loss of 35 yards, and two interceptions, including one against Thomas More he returned 30 yards for a score. George had a team season-high of 17 tackles in the win over Ohio Wesleyan. Linebacker Peter Franz is second on the team with 57 tackles. Safety Yusef Abdul-Zahir is third with 54 tackles, including 15 against Urbana when he was recognized as NCAC with Player of the Week. He also has four tackles for loss and two interceptions this season. Junior defensive tackle Jarrett Brown leads the team in tackles for loss with 10.5 for 39 yards.
Series History:
The series between Wittenberg and Wooster is a long and storied rivalry, dating back to the 1912 season and a 12-0 victory for the Fighting Scots. That started a trend that lasted until 1949 as Wooster won nine of the first 11 games between the two schools. But in 1956, Wittenberg broke through for a 25-19 win and since then the Tigers have enjoyed a tremendous advantage, to the tune of 25 wins in the last 26 meetings, including the last five since Wooster defeated the Tigers 21-19 at John P. Papp Stadium in 1997.Interestingly, Wooster has not beaten Wittenberg in Springfield since 1949. Wittenberg has won the last 12 meetings at Edwards-Maurer Field, including all six meetings since joining the NCAC in 1989.
Last Meeting (Nov. 16, 2002):
Offense sells tickets, but defense wins games. The Tigers came up with four huge defensive plays with the game - and 2002 season - on the line to pull out a 14-9 victory.The biggest play came with 3:33 left in the fourth quarter when Wittenberg linebacker Dustin Goldsbury made a sack and forced a fumble. When the Scots got it back another sack was registered on the game's final play by the the Tiger duo of Jim Lackmeyer and Allen D'Andrea. Tailback Daniel Grove, playing his first game in five weeks, posted 212 yards on 34 carries. After Andy Waddle intercepted a Wooster pass early in the fourth quarter, Grove went 27 yards on the second play of the ensuing possession to give the Tigers a little breathing room at 14-3. Then, after Wooster closed to within 14-9 but were stopped on Goldsbury's sack, Grove went 31 yards deep into Scots territory. The fourth defensive play of note was made by cornerback Tim Gaal as he intercepted a first-quarter pass to set up a Raymar Hampshire 22-yard scoring run.
The Tigers outrushed the Scots 258-88, accumulated 358 yards of total offense to 232 for Wooster and had the ball for 34 of the game's 60 minutes. Quarterback Greg Cornett finished 13-for-22 passing for 120 yards and wide receiver Jered Glover topped the team in catches with six for 50 yards. Defensively, Goldsbury finished with seven stops, including two for a total loss of 13 yards.
Happy at Home:
Wittenberg is 5-0 on its home turf in 2003 and has won each of those games by at least 26 points. However, the Tigers are 2-2 on the road after four grueling trips out of state.The Rankings:
Wittenberg fell out of the American Football Coaches Association poll for the first time since the poll's inception in 2000. The Tigers are in the "others receiving votes" category of the AFCA poll, as well as the d3football.com poll. In Don Hansen's National Football Gazette, Wittenberg is 33rd among the 40 teams ranked.No Shutouts:
One has to go back 11 years to find the last shutout that Wittenberg has suffered. Baldwin-Wallace did the honors in the opening game of the 1992 season, which also is the last time that Wittenberg lost back-to-back games (the Tigers lost their 2001 season finale to Ohio Wesleyan as well). Since the defeat to B-W, Wittenberg has played 130 games without either being shutout or suffering two consecutive losses. During that span, Wittenberg has recorded 27 shutouts of its own. Not only has Wittenberg not been shutout in 130 games, the Tigers have been held below 10 points in a game on just one occasion during that span - against Mercyhurst in a 7-6 victory in 1993.Up The Charts:
Senior wide receiver Skip Ivery has 36 receptions for 670 yards and 10 touchdowns. His career totals are now 124 receptions for 1,898 yards and 22 touchdowns. He ranks No. 3, No. 3 and No. 4 on those respective school record lists.Record-Setter:
Senior Conrad Hindert has made 38 straight extra points, dating back to a blocked PAT on Sept. 27 against Thomas More, establishing a new record for extra points. The previous record was 33, set by Jimmy Watts in 1995. Hindert is also on pace to break the school record for extra point percentage, set by Steve Jefferies in 1978 when he converted 33-of-34. He has made all five of his field goals this season and 47-of-48 extra points. For his career, Hindert now has made 89-of-93 extra points and 9-of-16 field goals. How They Stack Up:
Ryan Holmes leads the NCAC and ranks fourth in the nation in passing efficiency with a rating of 168.2. If the season ended today, that would be a new school record. Jered Glover ranks first in the NCAC and tied for 29th in the nation in kickoff returns with an average of 25.4. Raymar Hampshire is averaging 10.9 points per game to rank 12th nationally and second in the conference in scoring.As a team, Wittenberg ranks 17th in total offense (446.2), 24th in rush offense (237.6), 26th in total defense (270.8), tied for fourth in scoring offense (44.1) and 33rd in scoring defense (15.9) in the national statistical rankings.
Last Time Out:
The Tigers made one of the longest in-season road trips in school history and came away with a 45-21 nonconference victory over the Huntingdon Hawks Saturday. The Tigers got big offensive games from wide receiver Skip Ivery, quarterback Ryan Holmes and tailback Joe Brumfield to help the top-scoring team in the NCAC to another lop-sided victory. Ivery caught six passes for 104 yards, including three touchdowns. Holmes completed 15 of 25 passes for 239 yards and the three TDs to Ivery. Brumfield filled in for injured starter Raymar Hampshire, who went down after three carries for 25 yards in the first quarter, and the freshman posted a career-high 107 yards on 25 carries.Hampshire started the scoring with an 11-yard touchdown run four minutes into the first quarter, and that was followed by a one-yard TD plunge by fullback Tyler Harmon. Ivery added touchdown receptions of 36, 18 and 1 yard and kicker Conrad Hindert added a 27-yard field goal to round out the Tigers' first-half scoring. The final Tiger touchdown came in the third quarter on a two-yard run by Brumfield. Eight different Tiger players caught at least one pass, including Jered Glover, who had six catches for 95 yards. Defensively, nine Wittenberg players recorded at least one-half a tackle for loss. Leading the charge was Mitch Fonseca with seven tackles, while Chris Vennefron, Mike Freeman and Devon Combs all added six tackles.
The Coaches:
Wittenberg is led by Joe Fincham, a 1988 graduate of Ohio University. In his eighth season at the helm, Fincham has an 80-11 overall record, including a mark of 51-5 in the NCAC and a regular season record of 74-7. His teams have claimed five conference titles, including four straight outright with undefeated records from 1998-2001. Fincham, who ranks second in winning percentage in NCAA Division III history among coaches with five or more seasons, has been named NCAC Coach of the Year four times.Wooster is coached by Mike Schmitz, who is in his fourth season at the helm of Scots after working as an assistant for five years. He has a record of 25-14.
Tigers on the Radio:
Wittenberg is blessed with outstanding radio coverage again in 2003, as Marty Bannister heads things up for an 11th straight year on WULM. Bannister is joined in the booth by former Tiger All-American offensive lineman Xan Smith, who provides color commentary, while Scott Leo patrols the sidelines to provide insight. All season long, WULM also hosts Tiger Talk on Thursdays from 8-9 p.m. The show includes interviews and analysis with Wittenberg Head Coach Joe Fincham and his players and assistant coaches.Internet Broadcasts:
Wittenberg has partnered with Stretch Internet to make selected sporting events available around the world. Wittenberg fans will not have to pay to listen to broadcasts, and anyone with a computer and an Internet connection will be able to log in and listen without risk of getting bumped off due to listener limitations. Stretch Internet utilizes QuickTime, so prospective listeners need only to download the free QuickTime Player and they're ready to listen to Wittenberg games live.