Wittenberg Takes Down Huntingdon in Nonconference Finale

SPRINGFIELD, Ohio - It took a while for the Wittenberg Tigers to get things going the way they wanted, but they eventually prevailed in a nonconference match-up with Huntingdon College, 48-27. The Tigers improved to 2-1 on the 2004 season, while Huntingdon fell to 0-3 this year and 0-10 in its two years of NCAA Division III football existence.

The Tigers relied on an emerging big-play trio to get things going in this one. Junior wide receiver Jered Glover exploded for three touchdowns in the second half, including a dazzling 65-yard scored with 10:47 remaining in the third quarter that broke the game open. He scored two more touchdowns in the next 12 minutes of the game, almost single-handedly turning a 20-14 Wittenberg advantage into a commanding 41-14 lead with 12:59 left in the fourth quarter.

Glover finished the game with 119 yards receiving on six receptions and a total of 193 all-purpose yards, which included a pair of kickoff returns for 71 total yards. Senior quarterback Ryan Holmes was on the starting end of the first two Glover touchdown receptions, and he finished his day before the fourth quarter started with efficient stats of 10-of-13 passing for 176 yards and two touchdowns, in addition to his second rushing touchdown of the season. Holmes' replacement, sophomore Chris Clark, was solid in his first extended collegiate action as well, turning in a 6-of-9 performance that included 105 yards passing, 17 yards rushing and two touchdown passes.

The third member of that big-play troika is junior tailback Tristan Murray, who did the majority of the dirty work on the ground. Toting the ball 24 times in the game, Murray accumulated 127 hard-earned yards and scored the game's first touchdown with 1:20 remaining in the first quarter. As a team, Wittenberg ground out 187 yards rushing on 48 attempts for a 3.9 yards per carry average. The long rush on the day was an unusually modest 18 yards by Murray.

Wittenberg led 10-0 at the end of the first quarter on a 25-yard field goal by freshman Mark Porter and Murray's five-yard scoring burst. Huntingdon got on the board with a beautiful 62-yard touchdown pass play from quarterback Zach Golson to wideout Jacob Goodwin with 13:39 remaining in the second quarter. Golson released the ball just before getting hit by two Wittenberg lineman, hitting his receiver perfectly in stride well downfield and Goodwin carried it about 30 yards to paydirt. Wittenberg responded, however, getting a five-yard TD run from Holmes four minutes later and then converting a turnover into a Porter field goal with just 24 seconds remaining before halftime and a 20-7 lead.

In the third quarter, Huntingdon struck first, converting a Wittenberg turnover on a punt into a seven-yard touchdown run by quarterback Mark Colson. Then Glover stepped up, scoring three straight touchdowns before the Hawks got back on the board, scoring touchdowns at the 10:09 mark on a five-yard Dexter Jackson run and at the 6:15 mark on a five-yard reception by Goodwin, again connecting with Golson. Both scores came in the fourth quarter. Then the Tigers rounded out the scoring and put the game out of reach with an 81-yard, five-play drive that was capped by junior tight end Nate Cherry, who hauled in a three-yard strike from Clark. That was set up by a nifty 74-yard catch-and-run by junior tailback Will Block on a swing pass that went all the way to the three yard line.

Huntingdon, which was outgained 468-366 overall, got strong games from both quarterbacks, who combined to complete 20-of-37 passes for 236 yards and two touchdowns. However, the Hawks were victimized by three costly interceptions, including a pair in the first half by Tigers safety Adam Hewitt that led directly to the first 10 points of the game. Goodwin finished with 105 yards receiving on six catches and Samuel McLure was the team's leading ground-gainer with 85 yards on 15 carries, good for a solid average of 5.7 yards per carry.

Defensively, Huntingdon's Desmond Knight was the top man statistically, recording 12 total tackles in the game. Wittenberg was paced by sophomore safety Mitch Fonseca, who finished with eight tackles, and junior cornerback Lavon Wilborn and freshman linebacker Matt Ruggles with seven stops each.

Wittenberg returns to action next Saturday with a road game at Denison. It will be the North Coast Athletic Conference opener for both teams.