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DELAWARE, Ohio — The Wittenberg Tigers did it the hard way, struggling to overcome a determined effort by the host Ohio Wesleyan Battling Bishops before pulling out a hard-fought 34-13 victory.
The win, the Tigers' fifth in a row over Ohio Wesleyan and 18th in 23 meetings between the two teams as North Coast Athletic Conference (NCAC) rivals, moved Wittenberg to 2-0 on the young season, while Ohio Wesleyan dropped to 1-1. The game served as the 2011 NCAC opener for both teams.
While the Tigers won't win any style points for their performance, the end result moved 19th-ranked Wittenberg's regular season winning streak to 22 in a row. The NCAC win was Wittenberg's 14th straight — both streaks date back to the final game of the 2008 season at Wooster.
Junior kicker Sean Williams (Plainfield, Ind./Plainfield) started the scoring with a 20-yard field goal in the first quarter. He went on to add a 31-yard field goal in the second quarter and four extra points. The two successful field goals tries moved his steak over two seasons to 11 straight, one short of the school record, while he has now converted 38 consecutive PATs, also good for second in program history.
The game was tied at three at the end of the first quarter, but the Tiger offense got on track in the second frame, starting with a 28-yard scoring strike on fourth down with 7:44 remaining on the clock. After Ohio Wesleyan scored their lone touchdown of the game with just 1:25 left, the Tigers marched downfield in just four plays, culminating with a 37-yard scoring strike from senior quarterback Ben Zoeller (Lousville, Ky./St. Xavier) to sophomore Brendon Cunningham (Kettering, Ohio/Fairmont) with just 27 ticks left.
After a scoreless third quarter, Ohio Wesleyan drew within seven points with a field goal, but once again the Tigers responded was stunning efficiency on a 35-yard touchdown pass from Zoeller to senior Michael Cooper (Springfield, Ohio/South). On the next drive, sophomore quarterback Reed Florence (South Charleston, Ohio/Southeastern) put the game out of reach with a five-yard touchdown run.
Wittenberg rolled up 430 yards of total offense, compared to 288 for OWU. For a second straight week, the majority of the Tigers' production came through the air as Zoeller overcame a shaky start to finish 20-of-33 for 317 yards. Cooper hauled in seven passes for 157 yards, while senior Josh McKee (New Carlisle, Ohio/Tecumseh) continued to add to his career receiving record with eight more receptions. He now has 189 catches in his collegiate career.
Also for the second straight week, the Tiger defense bent frequently but rarely broke. Senior linebacker Zach Hurtt (Fort Thomas, Ky./Highlands) led the way with a 15-tackle performance, in additon to a pair of passes broken up. Junior defensive end Jon Daniels (Springfield, Ohio/South) turned in his finest performance in the Red & White, finishing with 10 tackles, including three sacks.
Also of note was the play of sophomore Desi Kirkman (Lima, Ohio/Central Catholic), who piled up four punt returns and three kickoff returns. He averaged nine yards per punt return and 33 yards per kickoff return to repeatedly set the Tiger offense up with quality field position.