Fourth-Quarter Rally Comes Up Short In Loss At Wooster

WOOSTER, OH - Wittenberg Football got tripped up on the road against longtime rival Wooster, coming up on the short end of a 14-12 score.

The loss was Wittenberg's second straight, and it dropped the Tigers to 2-3 overall and 1-2 in the North Coast Athletic Conference (NCAC). Wooster won for just the second time in the last 16 meetings with Wittenberg to improve to 3-2 overall and 2-1 in the NCAC.

Things started off fairly well for the Tigers, who put the first three points on the board with a 22-yard field goal from Sumner Shroyer (Cincinnati, OH / Summit Country Day) midway through the first quarter. After holding Wooster's offense in check through most of the first half, the Tigers were unable to hold the Scots off the scoreboard after allowing an eight-yard scoring pass with just 1:50 left before halftime.

Wooster added what turned out to be the winning touchdown with 1:45 remaining in the third quarter, a score that was answered by Tiger quarterback Stephen Lauterbach (Oakwood, OH / Oakwood) with a three-yard scoring run at the 10:57 mark of the fourth. The Tigers pulled to within two points less than four minutes later on a 30-yard Sumner field goal after Korben Felton (Millersburg, OH / West Holmes) forced a Wooster fumble and Christopher Hurd (Palm Beach Gardens, FL / Dwyer) recovered it.

From there, the Tigers were unable to get the ball back, despite twice appearing to stop the Scots. A pass interference penalty and a roughing the punter penalty kept Wooster's final possession alive, and the Scots drained the final 7:10 off the clock.

Wittenberg managed just 194 yards of total offense in the game. Lauterbach threw for 44 yards, with Henry Jones (Cumming, GA / Landmark Christian) pulling in two passes for 21 yards. Josiah Payne (Dayton, OH / Chaminade-Julienne) turned in a breakout game with nine carries for 95 yards, while Lauterbach added 12 rushes for 47 yards.

Wittenberg's defense was tremendous again, as it has been most of the 2025 season. The Tigers allowed just 241 total yards on 72 plays - for a mere 3.3 yards per play average. Luke Jackson (DeGraff, OH / Indian Lake) led the way with 11 tackles, followed by Andrew Stamp (Powell, OH / Olentangy Liberty) with nine stops, including two tackles for loss, and Alexander Arroyo (Los Angeles, CA / Theodore Roosevelt) with seven tackles.

Written By: Ryan Maurer