Tigers Rebound In Style, Crush Hiram 77-0

HIRAM, Ohio - One week after the Wittenberg University Tigers were shocked at home on Homecoming Weekend in Springfield, the five-time defending North Coast Athletic Conference champions proved they weren't going to roll over just yet, pummeling host Hiram College, 77-0, to spoil the Terriers' Homecoming.

The point total was the highest for a Wittenberg team since the Tigers defeated Oberlin College 77-3 in 1995. It came a week after Wittenberg's defense yielded the most points (46) in a regular season game since Morris Harvey scored 47 against the Tigers to open the 1953 season. Wittenberg improved to 5-1 overall and 2-1 in the NCAC and remained a game back in the loss column to Wabash and Wooster, which are both unbeaten in both conference play and overall. Hiram, which was playing its first home game since the season opener on Sept. 7, dropped to 0-6 overall and 0-3 in the NCAC.

Wittenberg scored on every first half possession, starting with a 54-yard punt return touchdown just 1:07 into the game by freshman Mike Freeman (Huber Heights, Ohio/Wayne). That was followed by a two-yard score by freshman tailback Adam Hewitt (Piqua, Ohio/Lehman Catholic), a six-yard scoring reception by freshman wide receiver Jered Glover (Middletown, Ohio/Middletown) and a 19-yard TD catch by junior Skip Ivery (Columbus, Ohio/Groveport-Madison). Senior quarterback Greg Cornett (Franklin, Ohio/Franklin) tossed both scoring passes.

In the second quarter, Hewitt, who was making his first start in place of the injuredDaniel Grove (Uhrichsville, Ohio/Claymont), scored his second career touchdown on a 10-yard burst. Glover added a 44-yard scoring reception and then junior tailback Andy Dooley (Lima, Ohio/Elida) got into the act, scoring a pair of touchdowns from six yards out and one yard away.

Dooley added a one-yard TD run to account for the only scoring in the third quarter and then senior wide receiver Josh McCoy (Wooster, Ohio/Wooster) hooked up with sophomore quarterback Ryan Holmes (Oxford, Ohio/Talawanda) on a 33-yard fourth-quarter touchdown and then freshman running back Tom Hornsby (Cincinnati, Ohio/Elder) rounded things out with a 24-yard scoring run with 43 seconds left in the game.

For the game, Wittenberg gained 28 first downs to Hiram's six, rushed for 297 yards to 51 for the Terriers and amassed 587 total yards to 86 for the host team. Dooley led the way on the groun, gaining 134 yards on 19 carries, Cornett had a stellar day under center, finishing with nine completions in 11 attempts for 160 yards and three touchdowns, and Ivery and McCoy each wound up with four receptions. Nine different players caught passes and eight different running backs had at least three carries in the game. Three quarterbacks attempted at least six passes each.

On defense and special teams, the Tiger bench cleared by game's end and the tackles were spread around to no less than 28 different players registered at least one statistical entry. Senior safety Dane Dudley (West Chester, Ohio/Lakota East)topped the team with five solo tackles. In addition, Dudley was part of a record-breaking punt return unit as he combined with Freeman to return seven punts for 181 yards. The previous record was 174 punt return yards in a game, set in 1953 against Akron. Freeman just missed the individual mark, picking up 148 punt return yards on five attempts, two short of the record set by Russ Fedyk against Bluffton in 1997.