2004 Wittenberg Football Game Notes Game 3 vs. Huntingdon College

In more ways than one, time was already running out on the Wittenberg Tigers' football season. On Saturday night, before a raucous Community Night crowd, the Tigers stunned Thomas More with 14 unanswered points in the final eight minutes of the game to steal a 35-31 victory and, hopefully, capture the necessary momentum to get a season with high preseason expectations back on track.

September 25, 2004

Setting The Scene:

In more ways than one, time was already running out on the Wittenberg Tigers' football season. On Saturday night, before a raucous Community Night crowd, the Tigers stunned Thomas More with 14 unanswered points in the final eight minutes of the game to steal a 35-31 victory and, hopefully, capture the necessary momentum to get a season with high preseason expectations back on track.

The Tigers now enter what appears to be the softest part of the 2004 schedule, starting with a game this weekend against winless Huntingdon, a second-year program that is 0-9 all-time in NCAA Division III football. Wittenberg isn't in a position to overlook anyone, however, especially a team like Huntingdon that is starved for a win.

Ryan Holmes

Offensively, senior quarterback Ryan Holmes asserted himself in the fourth quarter of the win over Thomas More, and when the dust had cleared he had thrown for 303 yards and four touchdowns, stats that earned him North Coast Athletic Conference Player of the Week honors. His primary offensive weapons include junior tailbacks Will Block and Tristan Murray, sophomore fullback Tyler Harmon and record-breaking junior wide receiver Jered Glover, who is already fifth on the career receiving list at Wittenberg with 104 catches. Murray busted out for 198 yards of total offense against Thomas More, including a key 63-yard touchdown catch that started the comeback.

The Tigers, who have led the NCAC in total defense 10 of the last 12 years, have started slowly despite the presence of nine returning starters and are allowing an uncharacteristic 40 points per game. Sophomore cornerback Joe Brumfield, on defense for the first time after playing tailback in 2003, led Wittenberg with seven tackles against Capital, including six solos. Against Thomas More, freshman cornerback Alan Tracewell made his first collegiate start and had two interceptions, while junior safety Adam Hewitt and junior cornerback Mike Freeman each made eight solo tackles.

Huntingdon is 0-2 through the first two games of the 2004 season, with the losses coming to Louisiana College and Sewanee before an off-week last Saturday. The Hawks' biggest problems are in the running game - both offensively and defensively. Huntingdon is averaging just 88.5 yards per game on the ground, while the Hawks' opponents are racking up 228.5 rushing yards per game. Quarterback Mark Colson is the team's leading rusher and passer, averaging 26 yards on the ground and 133 through the air so far this season. His top receiver is Jacob Goodwin with 11 receptions for 171 yards through two games.

Tigers on the Radio:

Wittenberg is blessed with outstanding radio coverage again in 2004, as Marty Bannister heads things up for a 12th straight year. Bannister is joined most games in the booth by Scott Leo on color commentary after four years as the broadcast crew's sideline reporter. When Leo is unavailable due to other commitments, Tiger men's lacrosse coach Vinnie Lang has filled in admirably.

This year's broadcasts can be heard locally on WUSO 89.1-FM, the university's student-operated station. It can also be heard around the world on the Internet thanks to Wittenberg's partnership with Stretch Internet. Wittenberg fans do not have to pay to listen to broadcasts, and anyone with a computer and an Internet connection can log in and listen.

No Shutouts:

One has to go back 12 years to find Wittenberg's last shutout loss. Baldwin-Wallace did the honors in the opening game of the 1992 season, which also is the last time that Wittenberg lost back-to-back games (the Tigers lost their 1991 season finale to Ohio Wesleyan as well). Since the defeat to B-W, Wittenberg has played 132 games without either being shutout or suffering two consecutive losses. During that span, Wittenberg has recorded 27 shutouts of its own. Not only has Wittenberg not been shutout in 132 games, the Tigers have been held below 10 points in a game on just one occasion during that span - against Mercyhurst in a 7-6 victory in 1993.

Last Time Out:

It has been 51 years since a Wittenberg football team has started a season with two consecutive losses and more than 12 years since a Wittenberg football team has been defeated two times in a row. On Community Night at Edwards-Maurer Field, the 2004 edition of the Wittenberg Tigers narrowly avoided accomplishing both feats, rallying from the brink to defeat visiting Thomas More, 35-31.

Eric Kubilus

Thomas More scored 17 unanswered points in the third and fourth quarters to take a 31-21 lead. But Wittenberg responded at gut-check time. First, Tristan Murray took a swing pass 63 yards for a touchdown with 7:43 left in the fourth quarter to bring Wittenberg to within three points. Then, Ryan Holmes led the Tigers on a victory march, directing Wittenberg on a game-winning 87-yard, 13-play drive that culminated in a four-yard touchdown pass to sophomore wide receiver Eric Kubilus with just 33.6 seconds showing on the clock.

Holmes came up big, finishing 19 of 36 for 303 yards, turning in just the ninth 300-yard passing game in school history and the first of his career. His four touchdown passes were a career best and one short of a Wittenberg record as well. Murray had his biggest game in the Red & White, going for 105 yards on 18 carries and adding three receptions for 93 yards in his first start and second game overall since transferring from Brown University last winter.

Series History:

Joe Brumfield

Wittenberg holds a 1-0 lead in the series. The Tigers won the first-ever confrontation 45-21 in 2003. In that game, the Tigers got big offensive games from wide receiver Skip Ivery, Holmes and Brumfield to help the top-scoring team in the NCAC to another lop-sided victory. Ivery caught six passes for 104 yards and three touchdowns; Holmes completed 15 of 25 passes for 239 yards, and Brumfield made the most of his first extended collegiate action with 107 yards on 25 carries.

Wittenberg gained 26 first downs to Huntingdon's 12 and gained 481 total yards to the Hawks' 265. Eight different Tiger players caught at least one pass, including Glover, who had six catches for 95 yards. Defensively, nine Wittenberg players recorded at least one-half a tackle for loss, led by safety Mitch Fonseca with seven tackles.

The Coach:

Wittenberg is led by Joe Fincham, a 1988 graduate of Ohio University. In his ninth season at the helm, Fincham has a 82-12 overall record, including a mark of 54-5 in the NCAC and a regular season record of 76-8. His teams have claimed five conference titles, including four straight outright with undefeated records from 1998-2001. Fincham, who ranks second in winning percentage in NCAA Division III history among coaches with five or more seasons, has been named NCAC Coach of the Year four times. Huntingdon is coached by Mike Turk, who is in his first season at the helm of the Hawks.