SPRINGFIELD, Ohio — After a couple of lean years filled with near misses and could-have-beens, the Wittenberg Tigers did a lot of little things well enough to win 19-17 over Wabash College in the latest installment of a budding rivalry between two of the top teams in the North Coast Athletic Conference.
The win, the Tigers' fourth in a row, moved Wittenberg to 4-2 overall and 3-0 in the North Coast Athletic Conference. Wabash, the defending NCAC champion and preseason conference title favorite, dropped to 4-2 overall and 3-1 in the NCAC.
The back-and-forth, turnover-filled game came down to four long fourth-quarter drives, each of which featured a minimum of one clutch play. The Tigers struck first, going 72 yards in 16 plays in 7:43 before settling for a 20-yard field goal by juniorMark Porter (Loveland, Ohio/Loveland). Wabash answered with a five-play, 54-yard drive that took just 1:59 and ended with a two-yard run by Shane Keffer.
Backs against the wall, the Tigers responded with a 65-yard drive that ended on the 11th play as junior fullback Andy Vanover (Tipp City, Ohio/Tippecanoe)rumbled 13 yards to paydirt. Controversy surrounds the drive, however, as a fourth-down play at midfield was blown dead on what was ruled an inadvertent whistle by the officials. Wittenberg sophomore Tony Hall (Columbus, Ohio/Eastmoor) had lunged over the pile and appeared to have the first down, but the ball had also popped out at some point as he landed. With no signal of either a first down or a fumble, the officials huddled and chose to re-play the down due to the inadvertent whistle, and Hall converted on the second chance to keep the drive alive.
With three timeouts remaining and 1:01 on the clock, the Little Giants then responded with a long drive, capped by a clutch fourth-down pass play from quarterback Dustin Huff to wide receiver Mike Russell. However, Wabash came up empty when a 28-yard field goal attempt at the final horn was pushed wide right.
Senior tailback Tristan Murray (New Carlisle, Ohio/Tecumseh) finished with 156 yards on 35 carries and added another 33 yards on three receptions. Freshman quarterback Aaron Huffman (Newark, Ohio/Newark) overcame a frustrating first half, one that included three interceptions and just 26 yards through the air, to really spark his team. He finished with 132 yards on 12 completions and another 29 yards on nine carries.
In addition, Vanover had eight carries for 33 yards and a touchdown and Hall added four yards and his first collegiate score on two carries. Huffman's favorite target through the air was sophomore Patrick Williams (Plainfield, Ind./Plainfield), who finished with career-highs of eight catches for 94 yards.
Wabash picked up 235 yards on 21 completions by Huff and 149 yards receiving on eight tough catches by Russell. Leading receiver Geoff Walker was lost early in the game after a huge hit by Tigers' senior safety Will Block (Troy, Ohio/Troy). The Little Giants gained just 89 yards rushing, 43 of which came from tailback Billy King.
Defensively, senior linebacker Tyler Harmon (Indianapolis, Ind./Perry Meridian)led a balanced effort that generated two interceptions and a fumble. He was the team's leading tackler for the fifth time in six games, this time credited with eight stops. Senior safety Mitch Fonseca (Miami, Fla./Christopher Columbus) added seven tackles and a key interception in the first half. Senior linebacker Joe Swanson (Germantown, Ohio/Valleyview) chipped in with six tackles and an interception. All three Wabash turnovers occurred deep in Wittenberg territory, while the Tigers had an interception in the end zone among their three first-half miscues.
Wittenberg hits the road for three of its last four games, starting with a test at Ohio Wesleyan next Saturday at 1 p.m. The last time the Tigers played in Delaware, they were upset 28-24 in 2004.