Round Up: Tigers Defense Leads to Lop-sided Win Against Ohio Wesleyan
On Saturday, the Tiger football team defeated Ohio Wesleyan, 58-17, in a surprisingly lop-sided game made possible by a tremendous defensive effort spearheaded by senior defensive end Jim Lackmeyer (Cincinnati, Ohio/Purcell Marian) and a potent aerial attack led by senior quarterback Greg Cornett (Franklin, Ohio/Franklin).
On Saturday, the Tiger football team defeated Ohio Wesleyan, 58-17, in a surprisingly lop-sided game made possible by a tremendous defensive effort spearheaded by senior defensive end Jim Lackmeyer (Cincinnati, Ohio/Purcell Marian) and a potent aerial attack led by senior quarterback Greg Cornett (Franklin, Ohio/Franklin).
Lackmeyer posted career-highs of 10 total tackles,six solo tackles and 5.5 tackles for a loss of 21 yards. He was one of three Wittenberg players to finish in double-digits in tackles - the others being senior linebackers Dustin Goldsbury (Columbus, Ohio/Ready) and Gary George (Cincinnati, Ohio/Purcell Marian). The Tigers gave up 357 total yards on 82 plays, including 218 yards on 55 rushing attempts, but the defense was opportunistic, intercepting two passes and limiting the Bishops to 6-of-17 on third-down conversions.
The scoring started on a 28-yard field goal by sophomore kicker Jacob Thomas (New Albany, Ohio/New Albany) at the 12:33 mark of the first quarter, a score set up by a 55-yard pass play between Cornett and junior wide receiver Skip Ivery (Columbus, Ohio/Groveport-Madison) on the game's first play from scrimmage. Less than two minutes later, after an interception by senior safety John Hauser (Columbus, Ohio/Hartley), sophomore tailback Alex Smith (Blue Bell, Pa./Germantown Academy) went into the end zone from nine yards out to stake the Tigers to a 10-0 lead.
Wittenberg scored on its first three possessions of the second stanza, all on picture-perfect passes by Cornett. The first was a two-yard lob to senior tight end Erich Schoeneberger (Pittsburgh, Pa./Plum), his first catch of the year and first touchdown of his career. The second was a nine-yard pitch to senior wide receiverAdrian Crane (Indianapolis, Ind./Ben Davis). And the third was a 42-yard bomb down the sideline to senior wide receiver Josh McCoy (Wooster, Ohio/Wooster).Cornett then operated the two-minute drill to perfection following an OWU score, nailing Crane with another scoring pass with just 11 seconds left in the half.
The second half opened with three more Wittenberg scores as sophomore fullbackRaymar Hampshire (Lima, Ohio/Elida) had a one-yard scoring plunge, Smith added a five-yard burst and freshman Adam Hewitt (Piqua, Ohio/Lehman Catholic) rounded things out with a fine 17-yard scoring jaunt two minutes into the fourth quarter.
Individually, it may have been Cornett finished with 16 completions in 19 attempts for 262 yards and a career-high tying four touchdowns, all thrown in the second quarter. His favorite target was Ivery, who had 111 yards on six receptions, while Crane finished with five catches for 83 yards and two scores. Hampshire topped the team in rushing with 42 yards on eight carries.
Wittenberg is now 6-1 overall and 3-1 in the NCAC, and more importantly the Tigers remain very much alive for either the conference title or one of three at-large berths in the NCAA Division III tournament. Wittenberg, the five-time defending NCAC champion and the 12th-ranked team in the nation in the latest American Football Coaches Association poll, returns home for another crucial match-up against Allegheny next Saturday.