SPRINGFIELD, OH - The weather was as perfect as it could possibly be for October in Ohio, and a large Homecoming crowd was assembled at Edwards-Maurer Field. However, Wittenberg Football fell into a 20-3 first-half hole that proved to be too much to overcome in what turned out to be a 30-20 loss to Denison.
The Big Red improved to 3-2 overall, but more importantly Denison is now 3-0 in the North Coast Athletic Conference (NCAC) and sits atop the league standings. Wittenberg fell to 1-2 overall and 0-1 in the NCAC, heading into next week's game against Ohio Wesleyan, which will wrap up a three-game homestand.
The scoring opened with a 91-yard, 11-play drive by Denison that was capped by Trey Fabrocini with a one-yard run at the 5:49 mark of the first quarter. The Big Red expanded their advantage to 13-0 on a touchdown pass 59 seconds into the second quarter, and after Lucas Swierk (Morrow, OH / Little Miami) got the Tigers on the board with a field goal, Denison made it a three-score game with another Fabrocini scoring run.
Wittenberg finally gained some momentum late in the second quarter, driving 70 yards in eight plays to score with 36 seconds left on a 20-yard pass from Max Milton (Carmel, IN / Heritage Christian) to Kade Ray (Sun City Central, FL / Jule F. Sumner).
That momentum carried over into the second half as Swierk kicked another field goal. But the Tigers saw multiple drives stymied by ill-timed penalties and miscues, allowing Denison to eventually take control again, first on a 31-yard field goal with 11:27 remaining in the fourth quarter and then on Fabrocini's third short scoring burst with 3:55 left.
The Tigers wouldn't go away, however, scoring a touchdown on a nine-yard pass from Milton to Eric Rasheed (Fletcher, NC / Hendersonville) with 1:03 remaining and then recovering a perfectly executed onsides kick by Thomas Monnig (Miamisburg, OH / Miamisburg). The Tigers' final drive ended with a fourth-down pass broken up in the end zone as the clock struck zero.
Milton finished 25-of-44 for 264 yards and two touchdowns. He spread the ball around to five different receivers: Troy Teepe (Brookville, IN / East Central) had six catches for 73 yards, Rasheed finished with eight catches for 70 yards, Ray added three receptions for 53 yards, Kahleel Trent (Springboro, OH / Springboro) contributed six catches for 46 yards, and Earl Pope (Miami, FL / Carol City) rounded things out with two receptions for 22 yards.
The big key offensively for Wittenberg was an inability to get the ground game going. Denison outgained the Tigers 170-50 for the game. Neither team finished a strong yards per carry, however, as the Big Red finished at 3.9 and Wittenberg finished at 2.6.
Wittenberg's defense, which had piled up the tackles for loss in the first two games of the season, managed just two against the Big Red, and the Tigers were unable to convert either of two Denison fumbles in the game. Tyre Smith (Sarasota, FL / Riverview) led the Tigers with 12 tackles, followed by Cameron Snurr (Springboro, OH / Springboro) with 11 stops. Luke Jackson (DeGraff, OH / Indian Lake) and Nick Wadsworth (Mason, OH / Mason) made eight tackles each, followed by Mario Getaw (Washington, MI / Eisenhower) with seven, including one of the tackles for loss in the game.