HIRAM, Ohio — The 10th meeting in the series between the Wittenberg Tigers and the Hiram Terriers went pretty much according to script, following the long-established trend with a 44-7 Tiger victory.
This was the second year in a row that Hiram scored a point against Wittenberg after eight straight shutouts in the series. But the Terriers' seven points came after this one was well in hand for the visiting squad as the Tigers built a 44-point lead.
The scoring started with a two-yard touchdown run by senior tailback Tony Hall (Columbus, Ohio/Eastmoor) to cap the game-opening drive for the Tigers. Less than six minutes later, freshman wide receiver Josh McKee (New Carlisle, Ohio/Tecumseh) hauled in a 31-yard scoring pass from senior quarterback Matt Brumfield (Springfield, Ohio/Kenton Ridge), and the rout was on.
In the second quarter, sophomore tight end Logan Beam (Greenville, Ohio/Ansonia) got into the act with his first career reception, a four-yard scoring pass from Brumfield. Hall capped the first half with a three-yard TD run. Freshman tailback Trevor Luckenbill (West Milton, Ohio/Milton Union) scored from two yards out in the third quarter, sophomore kicker David Rome (Shaker Heights, Ohio/Hawken) added his first career field goal to open the fourth frame and freshman wide receiver Michael Cooper (Springfield, Ohio/South) rounded things out with his first career score, which came on a 20-yard hook-up with sophomore quarterback Andrew Durbin (Carmel, Ind./Carmel). It was the first scoring pass of Durbin's career as well.
Three of Wittenberg's touchdown drives covered less than 50 yards, each set up by the Tigers' opportunistic defense. Freshman linebacker Zach Hurtt (Fort Thomas, Ky./Highlands) followed up on his NCAC Defensive Player of the Week award with a 13-tackle performance, including one sack for a loss of nine yards. In addition, Hurtt recovered a fumble.
He was far from a one-man wrecking crew as sophomore linebacker Brad McKinley (Hilliard, Ohio/Davidson) added 11 tackles, while sophomore safetyManny Rodriguez (Lawrenceville, Ga./Central Gwinnett) finished with six tackles, including one for a seven-yard loss, and a forced fumble. Junior linebacker Kyle Lohrman (Loveland, Ohio/Loveland) also had a fumble recovery and pass broken up and sophomore defensive tackle Adam Kattoua (Columbus, Ohio/Upper Arlington) had the other fumble recovery in the game.
Offensively, the Tigers took to the air for 366 of their nearly 500 yards in the game. Brumfield had his finest day as a collegian, finishing with 243 yards and two touchdowns on 14-of-23 passing. Durbin added 123 yards and a score on 8-of-11 passing in his first extended varsity action. Their favorite target was McKee, who pulled down eight passes for 177 yards. Senior wide receiver Patrick Williams (Plainfield, Ind./Plainfield) chipped in with 59 yards on seven catches, while Luckenbill led the rushing attack with 23 carries for 74 yards.