SPRINGFIELD, Ohio — The Wittenberg Tigers saved their best for almost last in the 2006 regular season, capturing a 39-21 victory over Allegheny on Senior Recognition Day at Edwards-Maurer Field.
The win moved Wittenberg within one game of its first North Coast Athletic Conference regular season championship since 2001, potentially ending an unprecedented four-year drought. The Tigers, who hope to win their eighth NCAC title in 17 years in the conference next week at last-place Hiram, improved to 6-3 overall and 5-1 in the NCAC with perhaps their finest all-around performance of the 2006 season.
Allegheny, on the other hand, slipped to 5-4 overall and 3-3 in the NCAC. The Gators still harbored hopes of an NCAC championship when the day started as they were one of four teams with two losses, one game behind the Tigers and Wabash, which wrapped up a share of the conference crown with a big win at Denison. But those hopes were dashed by a Tigers team that got big performances from several of the 19 players honored before the Senior Recognition Day game.
Offensively, Wittenberg relied on senior tailback Tristan Murray (New Carlisle, Ohio/Tecumseh), much as the Tigers have all season. He didn't disappoint, rushing for 199 yards - his school-record eighth straight 100-yard game - and three touchdowns and adding another three receptions for 58 yards and another score. Murray moved past Dave Merritt into second place on the school's career rushing list and past Daniel Grove into second place on the school's career scoring list with the stellar day.
The key to the Tigers' second-biggest scoring output of the season, however, was the play of freshman quarterback Aaron Huffman (Newark, Ohio/Newark), who had his finest game as a collegian. Huffman rushed for 84 yards on eight carries, including a pair of key third-down scrambles that sparked scoring drives, and threw for another 116 yards on 12-of-16 passing. If not for an underthrown pass that was intercepted in the Allegheny end zone with just seconds remaining in the second quarter, Huffman might have been looking at something akin to a perfect day.
The Tiger defense got off to relatively rough starts in each half, but they came on strong against one of the top 20 offenses in NCAA Division III, at least by statistical standards. While Gators quarterback Jimmy Savage had a solid game numbers-wise with 247 yards on 24-of-35 passing and a team-high 56 yards rushing on 10 attempts, he lost two fumbles and threw an interception as Wittenberg finished with a 3-1 turnover advantage for the game. In addition, the Tigers came up with clutch blocked punt early in the fourth quarter. After senior Ryan McCoart (Fairborn, Ohio/Fairborn) got a piece of the punter's leg, causing the Gator player to lose control of the ball as he attempted to kick it, Murray made it hurt, scoring on the next play from scrimmage to expand the lead from six to 12.
Not to be overlooked, the punt was set up by back-to-back pass break-ups by senior defensive end Serge Thebaud (Naples, Fla./Gulf Coast). For the game, the Tiger defense was led by senior linebacker Tyler Harmon (Indianapolis, Ind./Perry Meridian) for an eighth straight game. He finished with 11 tackles, followed closely by senior linebacker Joe Swanson (Germantown, Ohio/Valley View) with 10. Many of those stops came on Allegheny tailback Mario Tarquinio, who came into the game as the NCAC's No. 2 rusher but finished with just 51 yards on 15 carries.
In addition to the offensive heroics of Murray and Huffman, the Tigers picked up 28 yards on seven carries from junior fullback Andy Vanover (Tipp City, Ohio/Tippecanoe) and 13 yards and two touchdowns on five carries by sophomoreTony Hall (Columbus, Ohio/Eastmoor). Sophomore Pat Williams (Plainfield, Ind./Plainfield) led with four catches for 23 yards, while freshman Chris Jones (Middletown, Ohio/Middletown) added two first-down catches in the first half for 18 yards.
Finally, the win moved Wittenberg Head Coach Joe Fincham past the legendary Bill Edwards into second place on the school's coaching wins list. Fincham now has a career record of 99-22, giving him one more win than Edwards, who won three national titles and earned a spot in the National College Football Hall of Fame with a career record of 98-20-4. Only National College Football Hall of Famer Dave Maurer, who succeeded Edwards and won a pair of national titles in the 1970s, has more career victories after posting a 129-23-3 record between 1969 and 1983.
The Tigers will put the finishing touches on the 2006 regular season with a road trip to Hiram at 1 p.m. Saturday, Nov. 11. A win in that game - against a team that Wittenberg has outscored 388-0 in six NCAC meetings - and the Tigers will earn a share of the NCAC title and the conference's automatic berth in the NCAA Division III Tournament, which gets under way Nov. 18.