2004 Wittenberg Football Game Notes Game 1 vs. Capital University Crusaders

With 17 starters and 43 letterwinners back in the fold in 2004, expectations are as high as ever for the Wittenberg football program.

September 4, 2004

Setting The Scene:

With 17 starters and 43 letterwinners back in the fold in 2004, expectations are as high as ever for the Wittenberg football program.

Jered Glover

Offense: The Tigers figure to be explosive again after averaging 43.2 points per game in 2003. Junior wide receiver Jered Glover (Middletown, Ohio/Middletown) is a gamebreaking talent who has led Wittenberg in receiving each of his first two seasons and already ranks among the top 10 in school history in catches and receiving yards. Senior quarterback Ryan Holmes (Oxford, Ohio/Talawanda)is back under center after throwing for more than 1,700 yards in his first season as a starter. The running back position is loaded, starting with three-year starter and two-year All-NCAC selection Raymar Hampshire (Lima, Ohio/Elida), who moved from fullback to tailback in 2003 and carried the load, finishing with 895 yards and 15 touchdowns on 139 carries, good for a whopping 6.4 yards per carry. Hampshire's blocking back again in 2004 is sophomore Tyler Harmon (Indianapolis, Ind./Perry Meridian), who contributed 577 yards of total offense in 2003. On the offensive line, the Tigers return three starters, led by 2003 All-American Brad Kassner (Circleville, Ohio/Circleville).

Yusef Abdul-Zahir

Defense: The top returning players are All-NCAC junior cornerback Mike Freeman (Huber Heights, Ohio/Wayne)and All-NCAC junior safety Yusef Abdul-Zahir (Canton, Ohio/McKinley). They are joined in a solid defensive backfield by junior cornerback Brandon Slade (Louisville, Colo./Monarch), the team leader in interceptions with six in 2003, and sophomore safety Mitch Fonseca (Miami, Fla./Christopher Columbus), who ranked among the team leaders in tackles in his first collegiate season. At linebacker, sophomores Serge Thebaud (Naples, Fla./Gulf Coast) andDevon Combs (Columbus, Ohio/South) are penciled in on the outside and freshman Wade Laughrey (Mount Vernon, Ohio/Mount Vernon) has impressed in his first collegiate camp to win the middle linebacker spot. Plenty of experience returns along the defensive line, starting with All-NCAC senior Jarrett Brown (Columbus, Ohio/St. Charles), already a two-year starter. He teams with junior returning starter Clinton Tiggs (Huber Heights, Ohio/Wayne) in the interior.

Getting Defensive:

Offense sells tickets, but defense wins games. The Tigers have led the NCAC in total defense 10 of the last 12 years, and Wittenberg has placed second in the conference the other two years.

In 2003, the defense struggled through some growing pains as just three seniors started games during the season and numerous freshmen and sophomores got their opportunities. Still, the Tigers allowed just 17.4 points per game and finished second in the conference in total defense, allowing just over 270 yards per outing.

Scouting The Crusaders:

After a record-setting season that included a school-record eight wins and a third place finish in the Ohio Athletic Conference, Capital returns 16 starters in 2004. Sophomore quarterback Rocky Pentello leads seven returning offensive starters after setting school records for total offense, passing yards and touchdowns in a season in 2003. His favorite target, all-region receiver Matt Friesner, and two other leading receivers return, as do running backs Jason Bainum and Charlie Smith and two starters on the offensive line.

Defensively, the Crusaders are led by junior safety Kyle Hausler, who set an OAC record with 10 interceptions in 2002. Twin brother, Thom, a safety, led the OAC in interceptions last season and was also the Crusaders primary return specialist. A pair of senior defensive backs, James Hairston and Joel Ruetty, join the Hauslers in the secondary, while up front former Wittenberg player Matt Evans anchors the line from his defensive end spot. The linebacking corps will be young, led by junior Bart Sparhawk. Capital is also set on special teams with all-region kicker Tyler Kazee and junior punter Andrew Gerber both back for another go-round.

NCAC's Best:

The Tigers played their first North Coast Athletic Conference season in 1989 and finished in fourth place with a 4-3 record. The next two years produced 6-2 and 5-3 records, but since then Wittenberg has put together six perfect conference campaigns and stands head and shoulders above the competition. Overall, the Tigers are 95-15 in NCAC action, good for an .864 winning percentage. Since 1991, the percentage is even better - 80-7 (.920).

All-Time Series:

Wittenberg leads the all-time series, 28-2. Capital won the first meeting between the only two Lutheran-affiliated institutions of higher learning in the state of Ohio by a 19-0 score in 1945. Wittenberg won 28 of the next 29 meetings, with the only interruption coming in 1972 as the Crusaders won 14-7.

The two teams played every year between 1972 and 1988, when Wittenberg left the OAC for the NCAC. The Tigers won the last meeting in 1988 by a 27-17 score at home in Springfield.

This is the first of a four-game series between Capital and Wittenberg. The Tigers will host the season-opening game in 2005.

Against The OAC:

This will be the seventh time in the 16 years since Wittenberg left the OAC that the Tigers open a season with an opponent from that conference. In those games, Wittenberg has a 3-3 record - 2-3 against Baldwin-Wallace and 1-0 against Muskingum.

Since leaving the OAC, Wittenberg has a 6-7 overall record against former conference rivals, including a 6-3 mark in regular season games only. The last time the Tigers played an OAC team in the regular season was in Week 2 of the 2001 season in a 59-7 home victory over Heidelberg. The last meeting with an OAC squad overall was also in 2001 when eventual national champion Mount Union got the best of things in the quarterfinal round by a 49-21 count.

Listen To The Tigers:

Catch all the action of Tiger football on WUSO 89.1-FM in Springfield and around the world via Stretch Internet. Veteran broadcaster Marty Bannister, the Voice of the Tigers for 12 years now, is back in the booth, alongside Scott Leo, who has worked Wittenberg games for four years.

Preseason Rankings:

Wittenberg opens the season ranked by three different publications: Street & Smith's, Don Hansen's National Football Gazette and d3football.com. The Tigers check in at No. 7, No. 23 and No. 24 respectively.

Wittenberg ended 2003 unranked by the American Football Coaches Association rankings for the first time since they started in 1999. The AFCA poll is the one officially recognized by the NCAA. The AFCA does not publish a preseason poll.

Al Logan

Coaching Staff Changes:

The Tiger football coaching staff underwent a facelift in the offseason. Among the three full-time assistants on the staff, gone are offensive coordinator Scott Isphording and defensive backs coach Mark Henninger, replaced by Al Logan and Scott Benzel respectively. Logan, a former all-conference honoree in both football and wrestling as a collegian at Muskingum, joins the Tigers with a track record of success, most recently as offensive coordinator at Davidson University in North Carolina. Benzel, a former defensive MVP as a collegian at Mercyhurst College, joins the Tigers after two seasons as a graduate assistant at Robert Morris University.

Joe Fincham

Head Coach Joe Fincham:

Wittenberg is led by Joe Fincham, a 1988 graduate of Ohio University. Entering his ninth season at the helm, Fincham has a 81-11 overall record, including a mark of 52-5 in the NCAC and a regular season record of 75-7. 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.

Capital is led by 1988 Wittenberg graduate Jim Collins. Entering his eighth season at the helm, Collins has an overall record of 30-40, including an OAC mark of 25-38. However, in the last three years, Capital is 21-9, including an 8-2 mark a year ago.