Defense Key Again As Tigers Win Big Over Denison

Seth Parker

GRANVILLE, Ohio — The Wittenberg Tigers shut their eighth straight 2009 opponent down, stifling the Denison Big Red defensively and putting together another workmanlike offensive performance in a 41-7 victory.

For the seventh time in eight outings in 2009, the Tigers held an opponent below 200 yards of total offense. It was the eighth straight time that the Wittenberg foe was held without a point in the first half and limited to single digits for the entire game. In combination with 484 yards of offense for Wittenberg, the end result moved the Tigers to 8-0 overall and 5-0 in the North Coast Athletic Conference (NCAC).

Unbeaten through the first eight games for the first time since 2000 and on track for their first outright conference crown since 2001, the Tigers end the season with a two-game homestand against two of their closest pursuers - Allegheny and Wooster. Denison, on the other hand, fell to 2-6 overall and 1-4 in the NCAC.

The Tigers got off to a slow start, but the defense held the line until a couple of big plays gave Wittenberg a 17-0 halftime advantage. The first was a 69-yard touchdown catch-and-run by sophomore wide receiver Michael Cooper (Springfield, Ohio/South) with just two seconds left in the first quarter. Cooper caught the pass near the line of scrimmage and then worked his way up the sideline, thanks in part to a cavalcade of blockers.

With the clock winding down in the second quarter, senior quarterback Aaron Huffman (Newark, Ohio/Newark) put together a drive in which he accounted for 23 yards through the air and 20 yards on the ground, including the last six for his third rushing touchdown of the 2009 campaign. Then sophomore safety Seth Parker (DeGraff, Ohio/Riverside) made the first of his two interceptions in the game, which set up senior kicker Zack Harris (Plain City, Ohio/Jonathan Alder) for a career-long 45-yard field goal as the halftime buzzer sounded.

The Tigers broke the game open in the third quarter as Harris drilled a 26-yard field goal, junior tailback Corey Weber (Pataskala, Ohio/Watkins Memorial) contributed a one-yard scoring plunge and sophomore wide receiver Josh McKee (New Carlisle, Ohio/Tecumseh) rounded things out with a 34-yard scoring strike from Huffman. Wittenberg's final score came on a three-yard touchdown run from sophomore quarterback Ben Zoeller (Louisville, Ky./St. Xavier), the first of his career.

Denison finally got on the board with just 14 seconds left in the game. The Big Red became the fourth Wittenberg opponent to break up a shutout in the fourth quarter.

Huffman finished with 210 yards through the air and 51 yards rushing - a deceiving total considering he gained 73 yards on nine rushing attempts but lost 22 yards on three sacks. His favorite target was Cooper, who caught five passes for 123 yards. On the ground, five Wittenberg players finished with 20 yards of more, led by sophomore tailback Conner Warye (Maineville, Ohio/Kings) with 79 yards on 16 carries and Weber with 76 yards on 10 totes. Neither lost a yard on a rushing attempt in the game.

On the other side of the ball, the nation's No. 1 defense posted eight tackles for loss, starting with junior defensive end Eddie Vallery (South Solon, Ohio/Madison Plains), who broke a school record with 2.5 sacks in the game. He now has 14 sacks on the season, breaking the 18-year-old school record of 12 previously held by David Smith. Vallery and senior linebacker Kyle Lohrman (Loveland, Ohio/Loveland) finished with six tackles apiece, two behind junior linebacker Ben Maxwell (Kettering, Ohio/Alter) with eight. Maxwell, who started a second straight game for the injured Brad McKinley (Hilliard, Ohio/Davidson), made seven solo tackles, easily the highest total for either team in the game.

Written by: Ryan Maurer