Wittenberg Football Wraps Up Season With Big Win At Hiram

HIRAM, OH - The plan for Wittenberg Football was to be playing - and winning - games in late November. So while it wasn't a playoff game, the Tigers' 58-14 season-ending win over Hiram was a good way to send out the seniors and start building momentum for 2025.

The game was originally scheduled for September 21, but it was postponed due to unfounded threats of political violence on Wittenberg's campus that week. So it wound up the final act of the 2024 season, capping another winning campaign for Wittenberg Football at 6-4 overall and 5-3 in the North Coast Athletic Conference (NCAC), good for fourth place in the final standings. Hiram, which has never beaten Wittenberg in 23 all-time meetings, finished 0-10 overall and 0-8 in the league.

Wittenberg piled up 638 yards of total offense in the game, split almost evenly between passing (388) and rushing (250). Defensively, the Tigers allowed just 172 yards.

The offense was sparked again by freshman quarterback Jayden Miller (Amelia, OH / Williamsburg), who completed 17-of-23 passes for 345 yards and four touchdowns. In six starts, he completed 66% of his passes for nearly 1,600 yards. More importantly, he threw 17 touchdown passes without an interception.

Miller's favorite target on this day was senior tight end Troy Teepe (Brookville, IN / East Central) with eight catches for 136 yards and two touchdowns, followed by Kade Ray (Sun City Central, FL / Jule F. Sumner) with three receptions for 101 yards and a 64-yard score. Eric Rasheed (Fletcher, NC / Hendersonville) added two catches for 58 yards and Earl Pope (Miami, FL / Carol City) also had two receptions covering 40 yards, both of which went to the house.

On the ground, the leader was Christian Manville (Westerville, OH / New Albany) with 22 carries for 122 yards and two touchdowns, in addition to three catches for 33 yards. Freshman T.J. Meeks (Springfield, OH / Shawnee) saw his most extensive action off the bench, going for 33 yards and a touchdown on five carries.

On the other side of the ball, the Tigers were led by Luke Jackson (DeGraff, OH / Indian Lake) with nine tackles, followed by Tyre Smith (Sarasota, FL / Riverview) with six stops. Dalton Allen (Delaware, OH / Hayes) wrapped up a tremendous sophomore season with five tackles, including two tackles for loss and a sack, while Darien Williams (Massillon, OH / Washington) added four solo tackles, including one for loss of yards, and a pass break-up.