Game Notes: Tigers win battle of the bizarre; Allegheny grudge match up next

Game 3: Wittenberg (4-0, 1-0 NCAC) @ Allegheny (2-2, 1-0 NCAC)
Saturday, Sept. 30, 2000 Kickoff: 1:30 p.m. Robertson Field

SETTING THE SCENE: The Wittenberg Tigers look to continue their winning ways Saturday as they renew their always intense North Coast Athletic Conference rivalry with the Allegheny College Gators at Robertson Stadium in Meadville, Pa. Wittenberg is now 4-0 on the 2000 campaign and 1-0 in the NCAC following last weeks 41-10 victory over Wabash College in Crawfordsville, Ind.

The Tigers, who are ranked between third and 11th in the various national NCAA Division III polls, have now outscored their first four opponents 155-55. Wittenberg is riding a 25-game regular season win streak and a 15-game NCAC win streak as the Tigers take aim at a fourth straight league title and a third straight perfect regular season. Allegheny has survived a brutal early season schedule, falling to perennial powerhouses Mount Union and Washington & Jefferson in the first two weeks before rallying for big wins over Frostburg State and Denison. The Gators have evened their record at 2-2 on the season and are tied with Wittenberg atop the NCAC with identical 1-0 records.

LAST WEEK: In a game that featured a bit of everything, the Tigers came alive following a pair of bizarre delays to defeat the Wabash Little Giants in the NCAC opener for both teams.
The Little Giants came out inspired in front of its typically rowdy home crowd on community day following a 20-minute delay due to grubbs that had ruined part of the field at Little Giant Stadium. With 4:18 left in the first quarter, the NCACs leading receiver, Ryan Short, caught a 19-yard touchdown pass from Jake Knott to put Wabash ahead 7-0.

Wittenberg answered in that familiar fashion, putting together its first sustained drive of the game early in the second quarter and punching the ball in from five yards out on a Casey Donaldson (South Charleston, Ohio/Southeastern) scamper off right tackle. The score was Donaldsons 55th rushing touchdown, breaking the NCAC record previously held by Stanley Drayton of Allegheny.

Thats when Mother Nature stepped in and, as it turned out, may have offered the Tigers some assistance. Lightning strikes were seen in the area and all fans and spectators were removed from Little Giant Stadium with 6:58 remaining in the first half. As the severe weather continued, the game was moved to Crawfordsville High Schools stadium a few miles away because it offered proper lighting for a game that eventually carried over into the early evenings darkness.

When play resumed, the Tigers quickly gathered momentum and dominated Wabash the rest of the game. The Tigers embarked on a pair of drives that secured the lead for good as junior wide receiver Michael Aljancic (Louisville, Ohio/Louisville) hauled in a 41-yard scoring strike from senior quarterback Anthony Crane (Indianapolis, Ind./Ben Davis) and senior placekicker Ryan Walker (Newark, Ohio/Newark) booted a 20-yard field goal through the uprights with two seconds left before an abbreviated halftime to stretch the lead to 17-7.

In the second half, Wittenberg marched downfield before stalling inside the Wabash 10-yard line and botching a field goal attempt. But just seconds after turning the ball over, sophomore defensive back Elio Harmon (Columbus, Ohio/Walnut Ridge) broke the game open with a 27-yard interception return that made the score 24-7.
From that point, Wittenberg cruised home as the Tigers air attack and a tremendous defensive effort took care of things. Walker knocked his second field goal and 200th career point into the scorebook. Then senior wide receiver Labon Storts (Columbus, Ohio/Westland) scored on a beautifully executed 58-yard halfback option pass from Donaldson, made possible by tremendous downfield blocking by Aljancic. And senior Josh Garber (Brookville, Ohio/Brookville) caught his first TD pass of the season, a 4-yard reception from Crane, to round out the scoring with 13:57 left in the game.

Crane, in his second start in his home state of Indiana, put together his best day as a collegian, completing 19-of-31 passes for 255 yards and two touchdowns. Aljancic, who paced the Tigers with seven catches in the game to move into eighth place on the Wittenberg career list with 75, Storts and junior wide receiver Steve DeGraffinreed (North Canton, Ohio/Hoover) accounted for 17 of those receptions and Aljancic and Storts each topped the century mark in yards receiving. Defensively, Wabashs potent offensive attack was bottled up after losing the early momentum, accounting for just 173 yards. Senior linebacker Trevor Yost (Wooster, Ohio/Wooster) had a huge game, leading both teams with 13 tackles.

THE OPPONENT: Allegheny has shown immense firepower in 2000, ranking first in the NCAC and 22nd in the nation in total offense so far in 2000. Unfortunately, the Gators have yielded almost as many.

Allegheny is 2-2 after dropping high-scoring shootouts to Mount Union and Washington & Jefferson before rebounding to beat Frostburg State, 31-13, before hitting the road for the first time to pick up a 39-8 victory over Denison in the NCAC opener for both teams.

Senior tailback Shane Ream leads the NCAC in rushing with an eye-popping 657 yards on 114 carries this season, good for an average of 5.8 yards per carry and 164.2 yards per game. He has also found the end zone a conference- and team-best 11 times already this season. While Ream has been the teams focal point on offense, senior strong safety Pat Lentz has recorded a team-high 44 tackles and five tackles for loss on the other side of the ball. Sophomore linebacker J.P. McFeeley has also been a defensive stalwart with 32 tackles and nine quarterback hurries.

RANKINGS: Wittenberg hasnt moved in the various national media polls released the last few weeks. In the American Football Coaches Association Division III poll, the Tigers are seventh. In Don Hansens Football Gazette poll, Wittenberg ranks 11th.

But in the Division III national statistical rankings, Wittenberg is making its mark. The Tigers rank 17th in scoring offense at 39.8 points per game; 15th in rushing defense at 57.0 yards per game; 17th in turnover margin with 15 takeaways against just six fumbles and no interceptions; 23rd in passing game efficiency with a 74.8 rating; and 15th in total defense with an average of 200.0 yards per game.

In the NCAC, the Tigers rank first in four of the 10 team categories listed in the conferences weekly release: scoring offense, rushing defense, total defense and kickoff returns (22.5 average per return).

Individually, two Tigers appear in the NCAA Division III statistical rankings. Senior punter Matt Gallatin (Johnson City, Tenn./Science Hill) has worked his way up to 19th nationally with a 39.4 yards per punt average. And Donaldsons fantastic senior campaign has vaulted him into 16th in the nation in scoring offense with a 13.5 points per game average. Donaldson has scored nine touchdowns on the ground this season, and he has thrown for another score.

In the NCAC, Donaldson is No. 2 in rushing and scoring behind Alleghenys Ream. Crane ranks fourth in passing average per game and sixth in total offense. Aljancic ranks seventh in receptions per game and third in receiving yards per game. Gallatin ranks second in punting behind Ryan Hartschuh of Wooster. And Walker is No. 4 in scoring with 17 extra points and six field goals, a total which is tops in the conference.

THE COACHES: Wittenberg is coached by Joe Fincham, who has compiled a 44-4 overall record through the midway point of his fifth season. His record in the regular season is 42-2, and his NCAC mark is 28-2. The former Ohio University standout, who was the NCAC Coach of the Year in 1998 and 1999, has led the Tigers to the second round of the Division III playoffs in each of the last two seasons, and his teams have captured at least a share of the NCAC title each of the last three seasons.

Allegheny is coached by Blair Hrovat, who is midway through his third campaign at the helm of the Gators. He has compiled a 16-6 overall record in that time, including an 11-3 mark in NCAC play. His teams have finished in a tie for second place each of the last two years, last year winding up 4-2 and even with Ohio Wesleyan and Wooster for runner-up honors.

INTERCEPTIONS: Wittenberg ranks as one of the top teams in the nation in rushing defense, which has forced its first four opponents to take to the air even more than usual. In turn, the defensive secondary has stepped up to stifle the opposition as well, yielding an average of just 143.0 yards per game through the air and recording nine interceptions. That has helped the Tigers move into the national rankings in turnover margin with a total of 15 takeaways against just six fumbles lost.

Thats right, Wittenbergs quarterbacks have yet to heave up an interception of their own. While Wittenbergs defense, which has seven players with at least one pickoff, has forced nine interceptions, the offensive unit has yet to turn the ball over through the air.

Elio Harmon and junior defensive back Brian LeRoy (Lakewood, Ohio/Lakewood) share the team lead with two interceptions apiece.

RECORDS: Several Tigers have continued their assaults on the Wittenberg and NCAC record books recently. Donaldson, who became the schools all-time leading rusher in the first game of the 2000 season, now has 4,174 yards in his career, putting him just 74 away from Denisons Chris Spriggs, who set the standard of 4,248 from 1983-86.

Donaldson, who had his string of six consecutive regular and postseason games with at least 100 yards rushing snapped against Wabash, still managed to top Dave Merritts unofficial career rushing yardage total that combines playoffs and regular season during the win over the Little Giants. Donaldson has carried the ball for at least 132 yards in each of his four playoff games that last two years, adding a total of 564 yards to his unofficial career yardage. By that count, he would now have 4,738 yards combined.

Walker came into the season with the fourth-best points by kicking total in NCAC history, and the third-best figure in Wittenberg history at 166 in his career. He has added six field goals, one short of his career best set in 1998, and 17 extra points, good for 35 points this season and 201 in his career. He is now second in the NCAC, but the first Wittenberg kicker to surpass 200 points in a career.

The senior from Newark, Ohio now has 23 field goals in his career, a total that puts him alone in third place on the NCAC career list, as well as the Wittenberg list. Former Tiger Greg Brame tops the NCAC in the category with 31 in his career from 1990-93, while Chris Merski, the Allegheny standout who Walker is chasing for the overall points by kicking record, put 30 through the uprights in his career. Aljancic has begun to ascend up the Wittenberg career lists as well. With 21 catches in the 2000 season, the junior from Louisville, Ohio now stands at 75 in his blossoming career. Now in eighth place on the Wittenberg career list, Aljancic is poised to next pass Mark Peters, who hauled in 80 passes from 1991-94, and Russ Fedyk, who totalled 84 catches from 1995-99.

Barring injury, Aljancic should work his way into the top three on the Wittenberg career list by seasons end. The No. 1 position is held by Rod Miller, who caught 143 passes for 2,288 yards and 26 touchdowns from 1964-67.