The Tigers defeated the Lords of Kenyon College on Saturday, 43-27. Wittenberg increased their record to 6-3 overall and 6-2 in conference play. The Tigers currently sit in third place in the race for the NCAC Title, behind Denison and Wabash.
The Tigers started off their second to last game of the regular season, in an explosive manner as Jaheem Washington (’20) rushed for 21-yards to place the Tigers at the Kenyon 14-yardline. Bobby Froelich (’21) completed a five-yard pass to Erik Anderson (’20) to push the Tigers to the Lord’s nine-yard line. Troy Clay (’20) then rushed two yards. Froelich placed the Tigers on the board with a seven-yard rush for a Wittenberg touchdown with 12:04 left in the first.
Wittenberg struck gold again as Froelich threw 39-yards to Gene Nobles (’22) to plant the Tigers at the Kenyon five-yard line. Clay rushed for another Wittenberg touchdown with 9:02 left in the first. Christian Seger’s (’23) point after attempt failed to see the Tigers leading the Lords, 13-0.
Wittenberg’s next drive saw the Tigers slash the Lords again as Froelich threw 36-yards to Anderson over two passes. Washington rushed seven-yards to Kenyon’s 26-yard line. Froelich then completed a 25-yard pass to Jake Saus (’22) before rushing one-yard to add another touchdown to the board. Wittenberg led, 20-0 with 3:45 left in the first.
The Lords responded during their first drive of the second quarter as they pushed to the Tigers endzone to add themselves to the scoreboard. Wittenberg responded on Kenyon’s next possession as the Tigers blocked a Kenyon field goal, which was recovered by Michael Fiessinger (’21) who ran 92-yards for a Wittenberg touchdown. Wittenberg held a 20-point lead over the Lords with 8:08 left in the second quarter. The Lords struck minutes later, raising the score to 27-14 with 1:09 left in the second quarter.
The third quarter saw the Tigers and Lords contribute tons of effort with little to show in return. This was interrupted late in the third as Kenyon started a drive at their own 21-yard line. Kenyon’s quarterback was placed under pressure by defensive linemen Trevor Good (’20) who squeezed a loss of ten-yards out of the Lords. The Tigers then forced another 11-yard loss to earn a safety and add two points to the score. The Tigers led Kenyon, 29-14 with 3:23 left in the third.
Wittenberg kept the momentum going during their next possession as LaShon Bright (’23) returned the kickoff 56-yards to the Kenyon 20-yardline. Froelich threw 16-yards to DeShawn Sarley (’20) to bring the Tigers within striking distance. Clay pulled the four-yards needed out of his pocket and rushed to the goal line to plunge the Tigers claws deep into the Lords. Wittenberg led Kenyon, 36-14 with 2:27 left in the third.
The fourth quarter started off with a blocked punt for the Tigers, which was returned 27-yards for a touchdown by the Kenyon Lords. Wittenberg still led 36-21 within seven seconds of the fourth quarter starting. The Tigers were saved by several penalties following the Kenyon touchdown as Kenyon drew a 15-yard unsportsmanlike conduct and a 10-yard sideline interference penaltie, which saw the Lords kicking off from their own ten-yard line. Wittenberg brushed off their blocked punt with Lance Lambert (’22) replacing Froelich as quarterback. Lambert completed three passes for 26-yards while Sarley, Clay and Saus rushed 15-yards to place the Tigers at the Lords five-yard line. Saus rushed to bring the Tigers to a 43-21 lead over the Lords with 10:44 left to play. The Lords didn’t surrender however and scored the last touchdown of the game with 5:05 left, fixing the end score at 43-27 in favor of Wittenberg.
The Tigers return home for the final game of this season, and face Ohio Wesleyan, Saturday Nov. 16. The Tigers will honor 22 seniors during Senior Day before facing the Battling Bishops at 1:00pm.
