Wittenberg Claims Second Place With Win Over Allegheny

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Ben Koester

MEADVILLE, Pa. — Wittenberg kept its slim hopes for an NCAA Division III Tournament berth alive, and guaranteed itself at least a share of second place in the North Coast Athletic Conference, with a 17-6 win at Allegheny on Saturday.

The Tigers, who improved to 7-2 overall and 5-1 in the NCAC, are ranked eighth in the Great Lakes Region, with their only two losses to nationally ranked Capital and Wabash by a combined total of 20 points. Wittenberg solidified its hold on second place in the NCAC, but any hopes of sharing a second straight title were dashed by Wabash's 42-0 win over Denison today.

Wittenberg was outgained by Allegheny 377-209 in the game, and the Gators held an almost 2-to-1 advantage in time of possession. The Tigers made up for Allegheny's edge in the offensive statistics with an 80-yard kickoff return for a touchdown by freshman tailback Rod Belcher (Covington, Ga./Newton County) in the first quarter, and two timely interceptions. The first, by freshman linebacker Ben Koester (Fort Thomas, Ky./Highlands), set up a first-quarter touchdown pass from sophomore quarterback Aaron Huffman (Newark, Ohio/Newark) to senior fullbackAndy Vanover (Tipp City, Ohio/Tippecanoe). The second, by senior safety Tim Flammer (Cincinnati, Ohio/McNicholas), came inside the final minute at the Tigers' two-yard-line.

Allegheny opened the scoring with a field goal after intercepting Huffman on Wittenberg's first play from scrimmage. But Belcher gave Wittenberg the lead - for good, as it turned out - with his return TD, the second score of his young career. On the Tigers' next possession, the Huffman to Vanover connection made it 14-3. From that point on, the top two defensive teams in the NCAC duked it out, with each team managing just a field goal the rest of the way.

Individually, Vanover led the Tigers with 56 yards on 17 carries, while Allegheny was paced by Matt Deivert with nine carries for a game-high 62 yards. Huffman finished with nine completions on 17 attempts for 121 yards, although he was intercepted twice in the game. His favorite target was freshman wide receiverAnthony Kralich (Kettering, Ohio/Alter), who finished with career-highs of three catches and 52 yards. Allegheny threw 43 times for 255 yards in the game as quarterback T.J. Salopek completed passes to 10 different receivers.

Defensively, the Tigers were paced by freshman linebacker Brad McKinley (Hilliard, Ohio/Davidson) with a team and personal season-high 21 tackles, including 10 solos. Koester added 10 stops, including a sack for a 14-yard loss, and the aforementioned interception.

Wittenberg returns home for a regular season finale against winless Hiram at 1 p.m. Saturday, Nov. 10.