Wittenberg Shuts Down Ohio Wesleyan, 32-0
The script was somewhat unfamiliar, as were many of the names, but the Wittenberg Tigers happily exited historic Selby Field with a convincing 32-0 victory over homestanding Ohio Wesleyan.
DELAWARE, Ohio — The script was somewhat unfamiliar, as were many of the names, but the Wittenberg Tigers happily exited historic Selby Field with a convincing 32-0 victory over homestanding Ohio Wesleyan.
The win moved the Tigers back over the .500 mark at 2-1 overall. Just as importantly, it was a win in the North Coast Athletic Conference (NCAC) opener. OWU, which has scored just nine points all season, dropped to 0-3 overall and 0-2 in the conference.
Touched by injuries at every position on the field, the Tigers turned to senior quarterback Matt Brumfield (Springfield, Ohio/Kenton Ridge), who responded with a workmanlike 9-of-16 performance for 68 yards and two touchdowns. More importantly, Brumfield did not throw an interception, nor did he take a sack in the game.
His two touchdown passes went to freshman wide receiver Josh McKee (New Carlisle, Ohio/Tecumseh), who now has six on the season. He hauled in the Tigers' lone score of the first quarter on a 12-yard pass from Brumfield, and he scored the game's final touchdown in the fourth quarter on a 14-yard pass from Brumfield.
In between, a trio of running backs did the lion's share of the offensive damage for Wittenberg. Freshman tailback Trevor Luckenbill (West Milton, Ohio/Milton-Union)topped the century mark for the first time in his budding collegiate career, totaling 117 yards on 19 carries, while sophomore tailback Rod Belcher (Covington, Ga./Newton County) added 34 yards on 14 carries. Their efforts set the stage for senior tailback Tony Hall (Columbus, Ohio/Eastmoor), who picked up 44 yards on 10 carries, including touchdown runs of one yard, one yard and 19 yards.
They were his first three scores since the 2006 season. Hall missed all of the 2007 campaign due to injury.
The Tigers' offense was helped exponentially by the fine work of the defense, which forced five Ohio Wesleyan turnovers. Wittenberg's longest scoring drive was just 55 yards, and its shortest was a mere five yards.
The game was more of a defensive struggle than the final score indicates as Wittenberg outgained OWU 295-228. The difference was turnovers, including an interception returned 69 yards by senior cornerback Travis Brunic (Indianapolis, Ind./Perry Meridian) to set up the final score. Freshman linebacker Zach Hurtt (Ft. Thomas, Ky./Highlands), who paced Wittenberg with a career-best 12 tackles, forced a fumble and intercepted a pass, junior safety Trent Brunic (Indianapolis, Ind./Perry Meridian) added a fumble recovery, senior defensive tackle Anthony Davis (New Lexington, Ohio/Fisher Catholic) recovered a fumble and senior defensive end Matt Maidlow (Cincinnati, Ohio/Madeira) rounded things out with a fumble recovery.
As glaring as any of the team's injury situations was the one that forced sophomore soccer player David Rome (Shaker Heights, Ohio/Hawken) into service as the team's kicker. Rome, one of six goalkeepers on the Tiger men's soccer roster, came up empty on his first three extra point attempts before hitting his last two in the absence of senior kicker Zack Harris (Plain City, Ohio/Jonathan Alder), who was injured in last week's loss to Washington University. This was Rome's first football game at any level.