Wittenberg Outlasts Urbana for 38-12 Victory

SPRINGFIELD, Ohio - After one half of football Saturday night at Edwards-Maurer Field, it appeared that the youthful Wittenberg Tigers were struggling through a bit of a letdown after last week's surprisingly thorough 34-7 romp at Albion College. By game's end, that was certainly not the appearance any longer as the Tigers played a dynamite second half and pulled away for a 38-12 victory over the visiting Urbana University Blue Knights.

The win moved Wittenberg to 2-0 on the season heading into an off week. It is the seventh straight season and eighth time in the last nine years that the Tigers have started the season 2-0. Urbana lost its second straight game to a 2002 NCAA Division III playoff team and fell to 0-2.

This game was tight for three quarters as the Tigers struggled to gain any kind of offensive rhythm against a fired-up Urbana squad. After Wittenberg took the opening kickoff 55 yards in 11 plays and scored the game's first three points on aConrad Hindert 33-yard field goal, Urbana got on the board in stunning fashion as Robert Garey picked up a Raymar Hampshire fumble and returned it 55 yards to paydirt. The extra point was blocked, making it 6-3 by the end of the first quarter.

The second quarter scoring opened at the 7:37 mark as Urbana capped a short four-play, 21-yard drive with a Josh Jones touchdown run from six yards out to take a 12-3 lead. The extra point this time sailed wide left.

Perhaps the biggest play of the game for the Tigers came at the end of the first half as wide receiver Jered Glover caught a screen pass as covered 42 yards to the end zone with just 53 seconds remaining before halftime.

In the second half, the Tigers looked like a different team, yielding just 59 yards to Urbana's offense and scoring 28 unanswered points. Wittenberg took the lead on a 42-yard touchdown hook-up between wide receiver Skip Ivery and quarterbackRyan Holmes with 10:43 remaining in the third quarter. It was a four-play, 66-yard drive that took just 1:29 off the clock.

The Tigers struck quickly every time in the second half, including three additional scores in the fourth stanza. Hampshire went 31 yards for a touchdown with 13:53 left in the game to give the Tigers some breathing room, Ivery added a 38-yard TD reception from Holmes and freshman fullback Tyler Harmon recovered a Hampshire fumble in the end zone with 5:46 left to cap the scoring. Harmon had set that score up with a 54-yard run on his only official carry from scrimmage in the game.

Wittenberg outgained Urbana 437-200 for the game, although the Blue Knights had the ball for more minutes. Individually, Hampshire finished with 158 yards on 20 attempts, both career highs. Harmon had 54 yards on his one carry and Adam Hewitt added 48 yards on 10 attempts. Holmes was efficient again, completing 12 of his 20 pass attempts for 195 yards and three touchdowns. He was not intercepted, although he was sacked three times. Ivery had six catches for 107 yards and Glover added 67 yards on three receptions.

Defensively, the star of the game for the Tigers was safety Yusef Abdul-Zahir, who finished with 15 tackles and one tackle for loss. Defensive tackle Jarrett Brownwas also outstanding with nine tackles, including three for a loss of 17 yards and one sack.