SPRINGFIELD, Ohio — The Wittenberg Tigers clinched a share of their second straight North Coast Athletic Conference (NCAC) championship with a 34-17 victory over visiting Wabash before a capacity crowd on a cold afternoon at Edwards-Maurer Field.
Unlike the last two years, this game did not come down to the final play. The Tigers won for the third time in the last five games of this budding rivalry behind a strong defensive effort that yielded just 183 yards to Wabash while a balanced offense ran up 503 yards. The end result is that Wittenberg won its 19th straight regular season game to improve to 9-0 overall and 5-0 in the NCAC, heading into the season finale at Wooster.
Wabash dropped to 7-2 overall and 5-1 in the NCAC, heading into the Little Giants' annual Monon Bell game against DePauw. If Wooster upsets Wittenberg next week, the Little Giants would move back into a three-way tie for first place in the final NCAC standings. The Scots are 5-4 overall but 4-1 in the NCAC after beating Kenyon today.
The Little Giants could have won the conference title outright with a win over Wittenberg, but the Tigers set the tone immediately, taking their first possession 60 yards for a four-yard touchdown run by senior tailback Corey Weber (Pataskala, Ohio/Watkins Memorial). An interception in the end zone thwarted the Tigers' second drive of the first half, but they took a 14-3 lead into the locker room at halftime on a touchdown pass from junior quarterback Ben Zoeller (Louisville, Ky./St. Xavier) to junior wide receiver Josh McKee (New Carlisle, Ohio/Tecumseh).
After Wittenberg pushed the lead out to 24-3, the Little Giants struck back with a pair of touchdown passes. But the Tiger defense stiffened again, and the offense put 10 more points on the board to pull away for the final margin, even ending the game with a kneel-down on the Wabash two-yard-line.
Zoeller threw for more than 300 yards for the fourth time in his nine starts, totalling 317 yards and three touchdowns on an efficient 24-of-34 attempts. McKee and senior wide receiver Anthony Kralich (Kettering, Ohio/Alter) posted matching totals of six receptions for 95 yards and a score, while freshman Brendon Cunningham (Kettering, Ohio/Fairmont) added five catches for 45 yards and a TD and junior wideout Michael Cooper (Springfield, Ohio/South) contributed four catches for 54 yards, including a pair of key third-down receptions that kept second-half drives alive.
The carries in the run game were split evenly between Weber and junior tailbackConner Warye (Maineville, Ohio/Kings), who combined for 165 yards on 38 carries. By contrast, Wabash managed just 23 rushing yards, hurt in part by three sacks for a whopping 36 yards lost. Through the air, the quarterback tandem of Chase Belton and Tyler Burke completed 13-of-33 passes for 160 yards in the game.
Even with the disparity in yardage, the Little Giants had rallied to within a touchdown and forced a Wittenberg punt to start the fourth quarter. That's when junior linebacker Zach Hurtt (Fort Thomas, Ky./Highlands) stepped up, intercepting a Tyler Burke pass and returning it two yards to the Wabash 27-yard-line. Zoeller hit Kralich for a 27-yard scoring strike on the next play, and then Hurtt forced a fumble that was recovered by sophomore cornerback Jamaal Everett (Kettering, Ohio/Fairmont) on the ensuing kickoff. Ten plays and more than four minutes of time off the clock later, sophomore Sean Williams (Plainfield, Ind./Plainfield) tacked on a field goal for some insurance points.
Senior linebacker Brad McKinley (Hilliard, Ohio/Davidson) led the defense with seven tackles, including 1.5 sacks. Hurtt was next with six stops, while senior defensive end Eddie Vallery (South Solon, Ohio/Madison Plains) chipped in with five tackles, including the other 1.5 sacks.