Another Big Day for Wittenberg as Tigers Route Denison 60-7

SPRINGFIELD, Ohio - The Wittenberg football team made it look easy again on Saturday before a crowd of 2,100 at Edwards-Maurer Field in Springfield, scoring the first 38 points of the game and putting it in cruise control en route to a 60-7 victory over the visiting Denison University Big Red.

The win moved Wittenberg to 4-0 overall and 1-0 in the North Coast Athletic Conference, while Denison fell to 0-4 and 0-1. It was the 14th straight win by Wittenberg in the series between the two teams that dates back nearly 100 years.

The Tigers scored in almost every imaginable way, including four touchdown runs, four touchdown passes, an interception return, a field goal and a safety. Wittenberg recorded 28 first downs to Denison's 11, ran up 240 yards rushing to -16 for the Big Red and totaled 445 yards to Denison's 157.

The scoring started on a one-yard touchdown run by freshman fullback Tyler Harmon, capping an eight-play, 99-yard, game-opening drive. That score was followed in the first quarter by an 11-yard TD reception by sophomore wide receiver Jered Glover from junior quarterback Ryan Holmes, a two-yard scoring run by junior tailback Raymar Hampshire and a 30-yard field goal by senior kicker Conrad Hindert. In the second quarter, sophomore tight end Nate Cherry scored his first career touchdown as he hauled in a one-yard pass from sophomore quarterback George Andress and Hampshire added a four-yard scoring run.

In the second half, Harmon caught an 11-yard TD pass from Andress in the third quarter, freshman tailback Joe Brumfield added a one-yard scoring run, freshman linebacker Serge Thebaud got a sack in the end zone for a safety and then sophomore Adam Hewitt made his way into the school record books with a 100-yard interception return for touchdown to cap the scoring with 52 seconds left. Hewitt, the Tigers' starting tailback the first two games of the year, is the team's Mr. Versatility as he plays offense, defense and special teams throughout each game.

Denison's lone score came on a five-yard scoring pass from John Stoll to Josh Jirgens with 47 seconds remaining in the first half.

Individually, the Tigers spread the wealth. Hampshire led the rushing attack with 72 yards on 11 carries, while senior wide receiver Skip Ivery added 61 yards on three carries, Harmon finished with 53 yards on seven carries and Brumfield tallied 13 carries and 41 yards. Eight different players were credited with at least one rushing attempt. Andress finished 10-of-13 for 104 yards and two touchdowns, Holmes had 74 yards and one TD on five completions and senior Kurt Forrest added 27 yards on 3-of-5 passing. Glover led the receivers with 37 yards on five catches and Ivery had 45 yards on three receptions. Ten different players caught at least one pass.

For Denison, Joey Thees led the rushing attack with nine yards on six carries and starting tailback Phil Bouwhis wound up with two yards on 13 carries. He came in averaging more than 100 yards per game. Stoll had 10 completions in 24 attempts for 155 yards and one touchdown. Tight end Frank Roe added 86 yards on three receptions to lead all receivers in the game.

Defensively, Tigers' junior linebacker Andrew Nichols finished with seven tackles to lead the team, while sophomore linebacker Anthoni Fazio and senior linebacker Peter Franz added six tackles each. Senior linebacker Gary George checked in with five tackles, including 2.5 for a loss of 10 yards, and sophomore defensive tackle Clinton Tiggs added 2.5 tackles for a loss of eight yards. Denison got nine tackles each from Tim Koprowski and Ryan Bush.