2005 News
SPRINGFIELD, Ohio — Wittenberg University football standout Jacob Thomas of New Albany, Ohio, class of 2006, has earned American Football Coaches Association (AFCA) Division III All-America recognition.
The Wittenberg University football team experienced some highs and lows in a rollercoaster 2005 season, which came to an end with records of 5-5 overall and 5-2 in the North Coast Athletic Conference.
Another banner fall sports season has reaped rich rewards for 34 Wittenberg University athletes who were selected to All-North Coast Athletic Conference teams over the last two weeks, and a number of those individuals have also claimed regional and national awards.
CLEVELAND, Ohio — Wabash senior Russ Harbaugh (Evansville, IN/Bosse) and Ohio Wesleyan senior Cisco Clervoix (Naples, FL/Naples) have been honored for outstanding seasons by being named North Coast Athletic Conference Players of the Year. Harbaugh receives the Mike Gregory Award as the NCAC's Offensive Player of the Year. The award is presented by Richard Gregory of Columbus, in honor of his father, a multi-sport standout at Denison in the 1920s. Clervoix, meanwhile, is the Defensive Player of the Year for the first time and receives the Hank Critchfield Award, commemorating the 1927 Wooster graduate.
SPRINGFIELD, Ohio — Wittenberg University punter Jacob Thomas has been selected to play for the American Football Coaches Association (AFCA) Division III All-Star team that will represent the United States against a Mexican National All-Star Team in the 2005 Aztec Bowl at 1 p.m. (CST) Saturday, Dec. 17, in Toluca, Mexico.
The Wittenberg football team rounded out the 2005 season with its best performance in a 45-0 win over Wooster on Nov. 5 and then one of its worst in a 31-21 road defeat against Allegheny on Nov. 12.
At first glance, not much is riding on Saturday's football game between longtime North Coast Athletic Conference powerhouses Wittenberg and Allegheny. Squaring off in a season finale that most envisioned would have conference championship implications when it was scheduled several years ago, Wittenberg is shooting for its fourth straight second-place finish and Allegheny is simply hoping to salvage a special memory from a lost season.
The Wittenberg Tigers had been on a roll since the start of North Coast Athletic Conference action on Oct. 1, and with only a road trip to struggling Allegheny left on the schedule, uninformed observers incorrectly assumed that Wittenberg would close out the 2005 season with a win.
The Wittenberg Tigers proved last week that they have something left in the tank after a tough, injury-riddled 2005 season. Currently in a second-place tie with Kenyon at 4-1 in the North Coast Athletic Conference, Wittenberg, a winner in four of its last five games, closes out the home portion of the 2005 schedule against Wooster on Senior Recognition Day at Edwards-Maurer Field.
One of the largest senior classes in Wittenberg football history, numbering 29 players, celebrated in style Saturday with a surprisingly lop-sided 45-0 victory over Wooster.
The Wittenberg football team has two weeks left in the 2005 season, and there are still some things left to accomplish.
The Wittenberg Tigers may have fallen from the ranks of the North Coast Athletic Conference unbeatens with a 26-20 loss at Wabash last Saturday, but they still have a lot to play for, beginning this weekend with a home date opposite Ohio Wesleyan, one of two teams tied with the Tigers for second place. Wittenberg tied the Battling Bishops for second place a year ago, two games behind Wooster in the final 2004 standings.
After taking plenty of shots in the early weeks of the 2005 season, the Wittenberg Tiger defense continued its resurgence on Saturday, holding a potent Ohio Wesleyan offense to just nine points and 203 yards of total offense in a 31-9 Homecoming and Reunion Weekend win.
Wittenberg is always a busy place during its annual Homecoming and Reunion Weekend, especially in and around the athletic complex. The 2005 Homecoming and Reunion Weekend may well be the topper.
The Wittenberg Tigers have rallied from the depths in 2005, and now the stage is set for the biggest game of their season. The Tigers, winners of three straight games to open the North Coast Athletic Conference campaign after the program's first three-game, season-opening losing streak since 1953, travel to Wabash College for a game that will go a long way toward determining the 2005 NCAC champion.
Since the Wabash Little Giants arrived on the North Coast Athletic Conference scene in 2000, the football rivalry with Wittenberg has evolved into something very special. For the third time in the last four years, the two teams played a game that those in attendance will remember for a long time.