Round Up: Tigers Beat Thomas More, Extend Streak To 3-0
The Wittenberg football team is off to a perfect 3-0 start for the fifth time in the last six years.
Daniel Grove
Dustin Goldsbury
The Wittenberg football team is off to a perfect 3-0 start for the fifth time in the last six years. In each of the previous four years, including last year when Wittenberg went 2-1 to start the year, the Tigers have advanced to the NCAA Division III playoffs by virtue of an outright NCAC championship.
The road toward a fifth straight outright crown and a sixth consecutive championship overall (Wittenberg tied Allegheny and Wooster for the top spot in 1997 and the Gators were awarded the automatic bid based on tiebreaker criteria) begins this weekend as the Tigers host Denison at Edwards-Maurer Field in Springfield. Last week, the Tigers put the wraps on yet another perfect non-conference slate with a 31-6 decision at Thomas More.
Playing on a field decimated by the remnants of Hurricane Isidore, Wittenberg kept things simple against its hosts on Saturday. The Tigers scored touchdowns on their first four possessions, each of which was set up by outstanding defensive efforts that gave Wittenberg a significant field position advantage. Senior tailback, and scoring machine, Daniel Grove (Uhrichsville, Ohio/Claymont)rambled for three of the scores to run his total to an NCAC-best 10 on the still-young season, and sophomore fullback Raymar Hampshire (Lima, Ohio/Elida)chipped in with a score as well.
Greg Cornett (Franklin, Ohio/Franklin) had a fine first half, guiding the Tigers' ball-control offense well before misfiring on his last five passes before halftime. For the game, Cornett finished with a season- and regular season career-high 297 yards on 16 completions.
On the defensive front, senior linebacker Dustin Goldsbury (Columbus, Ohio/Ready) was named to the NCAC Player of the Week thanks to his three tackles, which included two drive-killing sacks for a loss of 14 yards, and one interception. In addition, senior safety Andy Waddle (Springfield, Ohio/Greenon)topped the Tigers with five solo tackles and two assisted tackles. Wittenberg posted two more sacks, one each for Jim Lackmeyer (Cincinnati, Ohio/Purcell Marian)and Gary George (Cincinnati, Ohio/Purcell Marian) for a total loss of 28 yards.
Skip Ivery (Columbus, Ohio/Groveport-Madison) was again the go-to man for Cornett, picking up 95 yards over six catches, and Jered Glover (Middletown, Ohio/Middletown) was a close second with three catches for a gain of 78 yards, his longest a 78 yard catch-and-run that set up a first-half touchdown.