Tigers Respond To First Second-Half Challenge Of Season, Take Significant Leap Forward In NCAC Title Race

MEADVILLE, Pa. — In the annual grudge match that has gone a long way toward determining the North Coast Athletic Conference championship every year since 1990, the Wittenberg Tigers made it four wins in a row over arch-rival Allegheny College Saturday. Responding to their first significant second-half challenge of the 2000 season, the Tigers ripped off two late touchdowns to break open a 21-21 game and record a huge victory.

The win was significant for a variety of reasons. The Tigers extended their overall regular season win streak to 26 games and their NCAC win streak to 17. Wittenberg, ranked seventh in the American Football Coaches Association NCAA Division III poll, improved to 5-0 in 2000 and 2-0 in the conference. And perhaps most importantly, the Tigers capped their toughest three-game stretch on the 2000 schedule, defeating Alma College at home and league rivals Wabash College and Allegheny on the road in back-to-back weeks.

Unlike previous games, the Tigers played the role of counter-puncher in this one. After Allegheny — which is now 2-3 overall this year, with all three losses coming against Top-10 opponents — put the first points on the board with an 11-yard Jeremy Snyder run with 9:22 left in the first quarter, the Tigers responded in lightning-quick fashion. Junior defensive back Jason Jackson (Columbus, Ohio/South) ran 94 yards untouched with the ensuing kickoff to knot the game at seven. It was Jackson's first career touchdown, and it tied a Wittenberg school record for longest kickoff return previously set by Leighton Antonio in 1986 against Baldwin-Wallace.

In the second quarter, the Tigers threatened to break the game open as senior quarterback Anthony Crane (Indianapolis, Ind./Ben Davis) loosened up the Gator defense by hitting on several big passing plays. Senior wide receiver Labon Storts (Columbus, Ohio/Westland) was his favorite target on this day, catching six passes to move into seventh place on the all-time Wittenberg receiving list with 81 catches. He pulled in a 16-yard TD from Crane early in the second quarter to put the Tigers in front.

Senior fullback Gary Henson (Columbus, Ohio/Marion-Franklin) tacked on the team's third TD from a yard out with 6:16 left in the first half to make it 21-7. But an Allegheny interception deep in Wittenberg territory late in the half gave the Gators a burst of momentum they carried into the second half. Gator tailback Shane Ream, the NCAC's leading rusher, caught a 6-yard pass from quarterback Joe Cowart with 36 seconds left before halftime.

In the second half, the team's traded defensive stops until Allegheny again converted off a Wittenberg turnover. This time, a fumble led to Jon Turner's 21-yard touchdown reception from Cowart and a 21-21 tie on homecoming in Meadville.

The Tigers, however, responded in strong fashion. Again it was Storts and Crane hooking up, this time on an 18-yard touchdown reception that capped a 4-play, 81-yard drive. It was highlighted by senior tailback Casey Donaldson's (South Charleston, Ohio/Southeastern) two bursts of 13 and 42 yards, which gave him the necessary yardage to break the all-time NCAC rushing record of 4248, previously held by Chris Spriggs of Denison.

Then Donaldson capped the scoring with a one-yard plunge midway through the fourth quarter, giving the Tigers an insurmountable 35-21 lead and himself a share of two NCAC scoring records. Donaldson tied Allegheny's Stanley Drayton, who had 56 career touchdowns and 336 career points.

Donaldson finished the game with 158 yards, 132 of which came in a big second half. Crane was an efficient 11-for-19 passing in the game for 185 yards, although he did throw his first two interceptions of the season. Storts had 76 yards on six catches, while junior wide receiver Steve DeGraffinreed (North Canton, Ohio/Hoover) continued to be a big-play guy, catching three passes for 87 yards.

Defensively, the Tigers finally bottled up the potent Allegheny offense and Ream late in the game. One of the top rushers in the country, Ream finished with 88 yards on 25 carries. Junior defensive tackle Juan Howard (Wooster, Ohio/Wooster), junior linebacker Dustin Goldsbury (Columbus, Ohio/Ready) and senior linebacker Trevor Yost (Wooster, Ohio/Wooster) all finished in double-digits in tackles for the game. Junior defensive tackle Tim Daoust (Toledo, Ohio/Central Catholic) and sophomore defensive end Allen D'Andrea (Naples, Fla./Barron Collier) both had strong games as well, putting three tackles for loss into the scorebook each.