Springfield, Ohio – Just months after winning a fifth North Coast Athletic Conference (NCAC) title in the last six years, Wittenberg University’s football team has been picked to make another run at a national championship. The publishers of Lindy’s 2015 College Football Preview ranked the Tigers 24th in their NCAA Division III preseason poll, while publishers of The Sporting News ranked the Tigers 10th in their NCAA Division III preseason poll.
The weight of expectations is nothing new to Head Coach Joe Fincham, who has led Wittenberg to 173 wins since taking the reins of the program in 1996. After leading the Tigers to a 9-2 overall record in 2014 that included the program’s 17th NCAA Division III Tournament berth, Fincham will lead the Tigers into a promising 2015 season that starts with a road trip to nearby Capital at 1:30 p.m. Saturday, Sept. 5.
The goals remain the same as Fincham welcomes 15 starters and a total of 40 letterwinners back to the roster. That impressive list of returnees includes most of the central figures of an offensive attack that generated 37 points and more than 400 yards of offense per game in 2014.
Seniors Jimmy Dehnke (Canton, Ohio/Massillon Jackson) and Sean Gary (Indianapolis, Ind./Decatur Central) shared the rushing workload last year, combining for more than 1,000 yards rushing and more than 300 yards through the air while scoring 13 times. The ground game will again be supplemented by a potent passing attack as Wittenberg returns its top three wide receivers in junior Luke Landis (Brookeville, Ohio/Brookeville), senior Corey Stump (Lima, Ohio/Central Catholic) and senior Zach Culvahouse (Fort Myers, Fla./Estero), who broke school records with 81 receptions and 1,179 yards in his first year as a starter.
Senior Zack Jenkins (Frostproof, Fla./Frostproof) is the man at the controls again 2015 after racking up nearly 3,000 passing yards and 25 touchdowns while completing 60.3 percent of his passes in his first year as a starter.
Defensively, the Tigers welcome six starters back to the line-up, starting with senior defensive tackle Josh Bannick (Enon, Ohio/Greenon), a two-time first-team All-North Coast Athletic Conference (NCAC) selection. Senior safety Winston Thomas (Lewis Center, Ohio/Olentangy) emerged as a standout a year ago, and senior cornerback Ryan Myers (Palm Harbor, Fla./University) is ticketed for his third straight year as a starter.
Wittenberg heads into the 2015 season seeking its NCAC-best 14th title since joining the conference in 1989. After opening the campaign against Capital, the Tigers will embark on their league championship defense with their first game on the newly re-installed turf at Edwards-Maurer Field against Ohio Wesleyan at 7 p.m. Saturday, Sept. 19.
Written By: Ryan Maurer