Game Notes: Tigers begin NCAC title defense against Wabash College

Game 4: Wittenberg (3-0, 0-0) @ Wabash (1-1, 0-0)
Saturday, Sept. 23, 2000 Kickoff: 2:30 p.m. (EDT) Little Giant Stadium

Setting the Scene: The Wittenberg Tigers hit the road again this week for an important North Coast Athletic Conference showdown at Wabash Colleges Little Giant Stadium in Crawfordsville, Ind. Wabash, which is competing as an NCAC member school in football for the first time ever, will attempt to end Wittenbergs 24-game regular season win streak and 15-game NCAC win streak, both of which date back to a 1997 loss at Wooster.

Last Week: The Tigers improved to 3-0 on Sept. 16 with their third consecutive comfortable non-conference victory. Wittenberg used much of its arsenal in overcoming an early 7-3 deficit to record a 39-14 pasting of the visiting Alma College Fighting Scots before a crowd of 3,150 at Edwards-Maurer Field. The Tigers, who also defeated Alma a year ago by a 42-19 count in the first round of the Division III playoffs, have now outscored their three non-conference opponents by a combined total of 114-45.
Unlike the first two wins over Urbana University and Heidelberg College, Wittenberg got off to a relatively slow start. Senior placekicker Ryan Walker (Newark, Ohio/Newark) opened the scoring with a career-high 43-yard field goal in the first quarter, but Alma responded early in the second with a touchdown pass to put the Tigers behind for the first time this year. From that point it was all Wittenberg. Senior tailback Casey Donaldson (South Charleston, Ohio/Southeastern) rambled to three second-quarter scores, extending the Wittenberg advantage to 23-7 by halftime and moving him to the top of the NCAC record books. Donaldson now has 54 career rushing touchdowns, tying the conference mark held by Stanley Drayton, who played for Allegheny College from 1989-92.
Donaldson finished the game with team-highs of 34 carries for 138 yards, his third straight 100-yard rushing game. He now has 4,090 yards in his career, extending his school record and moving him into second place on the NCAC career list.
In the second half, the Tigers did their scoring through the air. Junior wide receiver Michael Aljancic (Louisville, Ohio/Louisville), who caught seven passes for a season-best 123 yards, hauled in the first scoring strike, a 21-yard reception from senior quarterback Anthony Crane (Indianapolis, Ind./Ben Davis) with 6:20 left in the third quarter. Junior wide receiver Steve DeGraffinreed (North Canton, Ohio/Hoover) completed the scoring with a 40-yard touchdown reception in the fourth quarter from senior quarterback Chris Damico (Delaware, Ohio/Rutherford B. Hayes).
Sandwiched in between was Walkers second field goal of the day, a 32-yarder with 11:30 left in the fourth quarter. With that kick, Walker broke the school record of 187 points by kicking previously held by Greg Brame (1990-93).
Defensively, the Tigers held Alma to 175 net yards (to 394 for Wittenberg) and recorded 15 tackles for loss in the game.

The Opponent: Wabash is taking the field for the first time as a full-fledged member of the North Coast Athletic Conference. Last year, the Little Giants competed as an NCAC member in all sports except football for scheduling reasons.
Wabash brings a fine football tradition to the table on Saturday as well, a winner of more than 500 games in its history. In 1998, the Little Giants won the Heartland Conference with an undefeated record, and last year, as the team went a disappointing 5-5, Wabash still lost just two conference games.
Wabash opened the 2000 campaign with an impressive 38-7 victory over Manchester, but the momentum was slowed a bit in last weeks 17-14 defeat at Wheaton on Saturday. This weeks contest at Little Giant Stadium will serve as the squads home opener for 2000.
Sophomore quarterback Jake Knott, freshman tailback Chris Morris and sophomore Ryan Short have combined to lead a young offense that starts just two seniors through the first two games. Knott has completed 50 of his first 91 passes this season for 495 yards and four touchdowns. Morris has gotten the bulk of the work on the ground, totalling 138 rushing yards on 35 carries through two games. And Short leads the NCAC in receiving with 21 catches in two games, good for 186 yards and four TDs. Junior Kurt Casper has contributed 10 catches for 122 yards.
On the defensive side of the ball, senior tackle B.J. Hammer has spearheaded the effort thus far. Among his 12 total tackles on the season are six tackles for loss and three sacks.

Fourth Quarters: Wittenberg has moved out to large leads by the middle of the second half in each of its first three games, leading to inevitable lapses in concentration and some hard lessons for a young set of back-ups. The Tigers scored their first nine points in the fourth quarter this season against Alma. Overall, Wittenberg has been outscored 24-9 in the fourth quarter this season.
Conversely, this weeks opponent, Wabash, has rallied in the late-going of its first two games, outscoring its foes 21-0. If its a close game, the Tigers must play a better second half than they have so far this season. Head Coach Joe Fincham, who challenged his charges with a pair of fourth-quarter tirades in the win over Alma, knows that fact all too well.

First Quarters: On the other hand, Wittenberg has come out and played extremely this season in the first 15 minutes of games. The Tigers have outscored their first three foes by a whopping 34-0 count. Only Alma was still within striking distance (3-0) by the end of the first quarter. The Scots then took the 7-3 lead that stood for less than four minutes.

The Coaches: Wittenberg Head Coach Joe Fincham continues to put up numbers that are nothing short of amazing. Through his first four seasons and three games this year, Fincham is a sparkling 43-4, good for a .915 winning percentage. And his numbers are even better in the regular season, as Fincham has guided the Tigers to a mark of 41-2 since taking over in 1996, good for a .953 winning percentage.
Wabash is coached by Greg Carlson, who has posted a fine 107-54-2 record in his 17-plus years. He was the Heartland Conference Coach of the Year in 1998 and guided the Little Giants to four conference titles in the 1990s.

Al through the Air: Junior wide receiver Michael Aljancic (Louisville, Ohio/Louisville) had a breakout year in 1999, hauling in 37 passes in the regular season for 572 yards, both team highs. While he isnt the leading receiver on the team so far this year that honor goes to junior wide receiver Steve DeGraffinreed (North Canton, Ohio/Hoover), who has 15 catches for 269 yards he is on pace to surpass his totals of a year ago. He now has 14 catches for 233 yards, including a number of highlight reel plays and, in one instance, a two-play drive in the second half against Alma in which he covered all 61 yards.
Those totals in 1999 moved him into a tie for eighth place on the season receptions list with Ray Ward, who caught the same number in 1968. The Wittenberg record is 53 in a season, a mark set by Russ Fedyk during the 1997 campaign.
Aljancic is now moving into some select company for his career as well. With 68 career receptions, he has moved into ninth place on the Wittenberg list, passing Darryl Herring (1967-70), John Beckett (1968-70) and Bob Harvey (1963-65; 67). At his current pace, he could move into the top five this year. The overall receiving record at Wittenberg is held by Rod Miller, who caught 143 passes for 2,288 yards from 1964-67.
Streaks: Wittenberg and several of its players are riding a variety of streaks. The Tigers have won 24 straight regular season games and 15 straight regular season NCAC games, both dating back to Nov. 8, 1997, when the College of Wooster stopped a Wittenberg two-point conversion attempt and stunned the Tigers 21-19 at John P. Papp Stadium in Wooster.
Since then, the Tigers have outscored their 24 opponents 878-222, adding up to an impressive average margin of victory of 36-9. This season, the margin is 114-45 through three games, good for an average score of 38-15.
The streaks dont stop there, though. Senior quarterback Anthony Crane (Indianapolis, Ind./Ben Davis) has never lost one of the 23 regular season games he has started. His only two losses as a starter occurred in the playoffs 21-19 loss to Mount Union in 1998 and a 58-24 decision to Ohio Northern in 1999.
Also, since returning from injury to start in the 1999 playoffs, Crane has run his streak of games (regular and postseason) with at least one touchdown pass to five. The last time he started a game and didnt throw one was Week 8 of last season in a 14-0 victory over Ohio Wesleyan.
Senior tailback Casey Donaldson (South Charleston, Ohio/Southeastern) is on a rushing streak of his own. The school record-holder for rushing yards has picked up more than 100 in six straight games (regular and postseason), dating back to a 48-3 victory over Kenyon in Week 9 of the 1999 season. That day, the Tigers jumped out to a huge lead, and Donaldson rushed the ball just 12 times for 80 yards and two touchdowns.
Donaldson is also on a scoring streak dating back to last year. He has bulled his way into the end zone at least once in four straight games and 11 of his last 12. The only exception was the playoff victory over Alma last year. In addition, Donaldson scored at least two touchdowns in nine of those outings.

Going for the Title Again: This weeks contest at Wabash marks the opening of the Tigers 12th season in the NCAC. Since joining the conference as a football member in 1989, the Tigers have won five league titles and have never finished lower than fourth. The Tigers are 71-12 (.855 winning percentage) in the last 11 years of NCAC play, as well as 91-22-1 (.803 winning percentage) overall in that time.
Wittenberg is going for its third straight outright conference title and fourth straight year with at least a share of the top spot. The last time the Tigers finished out of first place in the NCAC was 1996 when a Week 2 loss to Allegheny cost the Tigers the title. That year, Joe Finchams first as head coach, the Gators won the NCAC with an 8-0 league mark; Wittenberg wound up second at 7-1 and missed out on the playoffs despite a 9-1 overall record.

Rankings: Wittenberg is ranked No. 7 in the American Football Coaches Association weekly NCAA Division III poll...No. 11 in Don Hansens Football Gazette poll...And the Tigers began the 2000 campaign with a No. 7 ranking in Street & Smiths poll.

Records: Donaldson is approaching the NCAC rushing record after surpassing the Wittenberg mark in the season opener. His 4,090 yards rank him second, just 158 behind Chris Spriggs of Denison (1983-86)...Walker now has 190 points by kicking to rank first in Tiger history and second in the NCAC annals. Chris Merski of Allegheny (1991-94) tops the list with an almost untouchable 252...Walkers 21 career field goals put him fifth in NCAC history. The conference mark is held by former Tiger Greg Brame, who put 31 through the uprights from 1990-93. The Wittenberg record is held by Rob Vaka, who had 34 field goals from 1985-88 (prior to NCAC membership)...Donaldson, already the school record-holder in rushing touchdowns, has tied the NCAC mark in the category with 54. It was previously held by Stanley Drayton.