SPRINGFIELD, Ohio — The Wittenberg Tigers took sole possession of second place in the North Coast Athletic Conference (NCAC) with a 38-14 home win over the Oberlin Yeomen.
It was Oberlin's first visit to Springfield in a decade, and while the game was closer than the 74-0 decision in 1997, the end result is the same. The Tigers improved to 6-2 overall and 4-1 in the NCAC, although Wabash clinched a share of the NCAC title and the conference's automatic berth in the NCAA Division III Tournament with a 21-10 win at Wooster today. Oberlin fell to 3-5 overall and 3-2 in the NCAC.
Trailing 6-3 in the first quarter, the Tigers took the lead for good with a six-yard touchdown pass from sophomore quarterback Aaron Huffman (Newark, Ohio/Newark) to freshman wide receiver Anthony Kralich (Kettering, Ohio/Alter)with 4:56 left in the opening stanza. Two second-quarter touchdown runs by senior fullback Andy Vanover (Tipp City, Ohio/Tippecanoe) stretched the lead to 24-6 before Oberlin closed with a late score of its own.
The second half was a whitewashing as the Tigers added a third-quarter TD run by Vanover and a fourth-quarter scoring pass from Huffman to freshman wide receiverDemetrius Lindsay (Mansfield, Ohio/Senior) that covered 45 yards. The Tiger defense did the rest, bending but refusing to break on three long Oberlin drives, including one stopped by a key interception by senior safety Tim Flammer (Cincinnati, Ohio/McNicholas).
The defensive effort was impressive considering the fact that Oberlin's R.V. Carroll came into the game as the top rusher in the NCAC and Greg Mangan was the top passer. Carroll gained 84 yards and two touchdowns on the ground and 74 yards on seven receptions, but the Tigers contained him for the most part. Mangan threw for 270 yards on 27 completions, but he was intercepted twice and sacked four times.
The Tiger offense featured the power running of Vanover, who established a career-high rushing total for the second straight week with 117 yards on 22 carries. His three touchdowns were also a personal best. He was ably backed by freshman tailback Rod Belcher (Covington, Ga./Newton County) with nine carries for 68 yards and Huffman, who picked up 50 yards on four carries.
Through the air, Huffman was an efficient 14-of-24 for 197 yards and two touchdowns. His favorite target was junior wide receiver Patrick Williams, who had eight catches for 97 yards. Williams now has 46 catches on the season, the sixth-highest total in school history - just eight shy of the school record set by Michael Aljancic in 2001.
Also of note, a 29-yard field goal by senior kicker Mark Porter (Loveland, Ohio/Loveland) in the first quarter was part of an eight-point day that gave him 234 career points by kicking, just 13 short of the record held by Ryan Walker (1997-2000).
Finally, the Tiger defense was paced once again by freshman linebacker Brad McKinley (Hilliard, Ohio/Davidson) with 16 tackles, including one for a two-yard loss. Freshman linebacker Mike Montgomery (Vandalia, Ohio/Butler) added eight tackles in his first career starting assignment.