#9/#13 Wittenberg Remains Unbeaten with 52-6 Drubbing of #25 DePauw

#9/#13 Wittenberg Remains Unbeaten with 52-6 Drubbing of #25 DePauw

GREENCASTLE, Indiana—With three games remaining in the regular season, the Wittenberg Tigers are all-alone in first-place in the NCAC standings. The Tigers came into the weekend deadlocked with the Tigers of DePauw, as Wittenberg made the trek to Greencastle for a battle of unbeaten NCAC teams. Wittenberg dominated DePauw in every facet of the game, routing the Tigers 52-6 on their home turf. While the Tigers didn't allow DePauw to score a touchdown in the game, Wittenberg found the end-zone on offense, defense, and special teams. The 52-6 win against the recently #25 ranked DePauw Tigers stands as the Tigers most lopsided victory against a ranked opponent since the 2006 46-0 shutout of Washington University.

HOW IT HAPPENED: DePauw led 3-0, before Wittenberg exploded for 52 unanswered points. The scoring for the Tigers started with yet another touchdown from Liam Duncan, a 25-yard strike from Jake Kennedy. Less than two minutes later, and with a 7-3 lead, Nick Kendall returned a DePauw punt 60 yards to the house, as the Tigers led 14-3. Kendall's return served as Wittenberg's first special teams touchdown of the year. Returning from injury, Thaddeus Snodgrass hauled in his first of two touchdown catches on the day, as the Springfield native caught an eight-yard strike to put the Tigers up 21-3 in the second quarter. Adam Acquista kicked his career long 39-yard field goal in the second quarter to give the Tigers a 24-3 lead. With 1:44 remaining in the first half, Snodgrass and Kennedy again hooked up, this time for a ten-yard pitch and catch, giving Wittenberg a 31-3 lead. Just before the half, Chandler Ferko ripped the ball out of DePauw's quarterback's hands, as the senior defensive end took the ball 17 yards to the house, giving the Tigers a 38-3 halftime lead. In the second half, Bryce Bailey caught a touchdown from Kennedy, followed by an 80-yard interception return for a touchdown by Michael Ford, giving the Tigers a 52-6 lead, and win.

WHO STOOD OUT: Kennedy threw four touchdown passes for the Tigers, as the junior saw familiar faces Jeff Tiffner, and Snodgrass back in the lineup. Tiffner caught five passes for 100 yards after missing the Tigers two previous games with an injury. Defensively, the Tigers held DePauw to 211 yards of total offense, including 84 passing yards. Jonathan Seay led the Tigers with 11 tackles and 1.5 that went for a loss. Wittenberg held DePauw to two field goals in the game, bookended by 52 unanswered points for the red and white.

WHAT DOES IT MEAN: Wittenberg is now set to travel to Crawfordsville, Indiana to take on the Little Giants of Wabash College on Saturday. The Tigers now sit all alone at the top of the NCAC standings, as DePauw and Wabash each enter week nine with one loss.