SPRINGFIELD, Ohio — The Wittenberg Tigers opened the 2007 season the same way as the last four years - with a loss to Capital University. This time, however, the game was much more competitive as the visiting Crusaders, ranked 12th in the d3football.com preseason poll, won a defensive struggle, 13-0.
This game had a very different feel than other recent meetings between the two teams. Gone were the offensive fireworks that accompanied the Ohio Athletic Conference's all-time leading passer, Capital quarterback Rocky Pentello - replaced at the forefront by a pair of athletic, hard-hitting defensive units that allowed just 411 yards between them in the entire game.
Capital quarterback Marty Assmann made his first collegiate start a good one as he led both teams in both passing and rushing yardage with 112 through the air and 98 on the ground. The Crusaders scored a second quarter touchdown on a one-yard plunge by running back Brian Porter, and they added a Matt Spitz field goal later made it 10-0 at halftime.
Capital added a field goal in the third quarter to account for the final margin, and the Crusaders' defense did the rest, limiting Wittenberg to 153 total yards. The Tigers moved into Capital territory four different times in the game, but they were kept off the scoreboard by an opportunistic Crusader defense that forced two turnovers on downs, picked off a pass at their own 10-yard-line and blocked a field goal.
Wittenberg, with a whopping five freshman starters and 10 first-year players in the two-deep, competed extremely well with a team picked to finish second in the powerhouse OAC. What stood out was a defense that flew around the field, led by freshman linebacker Brad McKinley (Hilliard, Ohio/Davidson), who posted 15 tackles in his first collegiate game.
Senior linebacker Joe Swanson (Germantown, Ohio/Valleyview) had another stellar outing with 12 total tackles, and sophomore defensive end Anthony Oliver (Toledo, Ohio/Central Catholic) was a disruptive force with seven tackles, including a shared sack with junior defensive tackle Lance Phillips (Wellston, Ohio/Wellston), who finished with four tackles. Also of note was the play of freshman safety Manny Rodriguez (Lawrenceville, Ga./Central Gwinnett), who was in on six tackles and made an interception.
Offensively, the Tigers' highlights were few as sophomore quarterback Aaron Huffman (Newark, Ohio/Newark) finished with 112 yards on 12-of-26 passing. Senior Derrick Braziel (Brook Park, Ohio/West Springfield (Va.)) ran well in his first collegiate start, grinding out 50 yards on 17 carries, and junior wide receiverPatrick Williams (Plainfield, Ind./Plainfield) was tops with five catches for 54 yards.
The Tigers have a week off before starting an odd two-week stretch of back-to-back road trips to Michigan. Wittenberg plays at Olivet on Sept. 15 and at Alma on Sept. 22 before returning home to square off with Wooster in the North Coast Athletic Conference opener for both teams on Sept. 29.
Photo By: Brad Tucker