MEADVILLE, Pa. — For the third time in the 2008 season, the snake-bitten Wittenberg Tigers came up a mere three points short, this time losing 30-27 in overtime at North Coast Athletic Conference (NCAC) rival Allegheny.
The loss mirrored ones earlier this season to Washington University (30-27) and Wabash (13-10), leaving Wittenberg, which turned the ball over five times, racked up more than 100 yards in penalties and missed a field goal and an extra point in the game, with records of 6-3 overall and 4-2 in the NCAC. Allegheny improved to 4-5 overall and 3-3 in the conference.
The game started out well enough for the visiting side as Wittenberg ran out to a 20-7 halftime lead on two touchdown runs by junior tailback Jeff Wilbur (Ann Arbor, Mich./Community) and one by senior tailback Tony Hall (Columbus, Ohio/Eastmoor). Wilbur, making his first collegiate start, went on post his first career 100-yard game as he finished with 123 yards on 31 carries.
Hall added a second score in the fourth quarter, which tied things at 27-27 after the Gators had scored 20 unanswered points on a trio of second-half scoring passes. The Tigers then survived a field goal miss by Allegheny and then a fake field goal on the final play of regulation.
In overtime, Wittenberg's first possession went for naught as sophomore quarterback Andrew Durbin (Carmel, Ind./Carmel) threw an interception near the goal line. The Gators couldn't move the ball much in response, but kicker Ryan Zipf was true this time on the 37-yard game-winner.
Durbin finished with 252 yards on 16-of-31 passing. His favorite targets were freshman wide receiver Josh McKee (New Carlisle, Ohio/Tecumseh) with eight catches for 84 yards and senior wideout Patrick Williams (Plainfield, Ind./Plainfield) with four receptions for 76 yards.
Defensively, the Tigers got a game-high 13 tackles from sophomore linebackerBrad McKinley (Hilliard, Ohio/Davidson), including five tackles for a whopping 22 yards in losses. He added two sacks and a pass broken up. Freshman linebackerZach Hurtt (Fort Thomas, Ky./Highlands) added 10 stops.
Wittenberg outgained Allegheny by a mere eight yards (391-383) in the final statistics. The most glaring differences were turnovers (Wittenberg committed three, while Allegheny had just one) and penalties (Wittenberg finished with eight for 119 yards, compared to five for 55 yards for the Gators).
The Tigers will play for a second-place tie in the final NCAC standings when they travel to Wooster for a 1 p.m. Saturday, Nov. 15, game. The Scots are 7-2 overall and 5-1 in the conference after today's 20-point win over Oberlin.