Posted November 3 2001, 05:47 pm
Posted by: Ryan Maurer
RICHMOND, Ind. - To the casual observer, the Wittenberg University Tigers had little to play for on Saturday at Earlham College. A fifth consecutive North Coast Athletic Conference title was already in hand and a berth in the NCAA Division III playoffs had been secured. And on the other side of the field, a struggling team plagued by injuries didn't appear to be a match for the mighty Tigers.
It turned out to be a record-breaking day for the Tigers, who claimed a convincing 38-3 victory at Earlham's M.O. Ross Field. Wittenberg won its record 29th straight NCAC game, dating back to Nov. 4, 1997, in improving to 9-1 overall and 7-0 in the conference. The win earned Wittenberg its fifth straight conference title and fourth consecutive outright crown, both NCAC records.
In addition, senior wide receiver Michael Aljancic (Louisville, Ohio/Louisville) caught eight passes for 63 yards in the game. That pushed his season totals to a school-record 54 receptions and 713 yards, fourth-most in Wittenberg history. And that pushed his career totals to a school-record 147 receptions for 2,172 yards, second-most in Wittenberg history. The previous record for season receptions was 53, set by Russ Redyk in 1997, and the mark for career receptions was 143 by Rod Miller, set in 1967.
Then there was junior tailback Daniel Grove (Uhrichsville, Ohio/Claymont), who has emerged as a tremendous offensive weapon for the Tigers. Grove, already the NCAC Offensive Player of the Week once this year, made a strong statement for such honors again on Saturday, rushing for 204 yards on just 23 carries, good for an 8.7 yards per carry average. He added three touchdowns - a 30-yard run in the first quarter, a three-yard burst early in the fourth quarter and a game-breaking 59-yard jaunt with 8:20 left in the game.
Grove finished the season with 1260 yards rushing, the eighth-best total in school history. In addition, Grove scored 21 touchdowns on the season, just one score short of Casey Donaldson's record-setting TD total of a year ago. For his career, Grove has 1,942 rushing yards.
The Tigers ran 74 offensive plays to 52 for Earlham and rolled up 467 yards of total offense, compared to 175 for the Quakers, who dropped to 2-6 overall and 1-4 in the NCAC. Wittenberg had 354 yards rushing and 198 yards passing behind another efficient performance by junior quarterback Greg Cornett (Franklin, Ohio/Franklin), who extended his run of quarters without an interception to 19. He finished the the game 19-of-27 passing for 174 yards and one touchdown. For the season, Cornett had 140 completions, just one short of the Wittenberg record set by Tim Green in 1987, and 1,872 passing yards, good for second-best in Tiger history behind Charlie Green's 1963 total of 2,181.
Defensively, Wittenberg was tremendous again, holding its fourth 2001 opponent to a single-digit scoring total. Senior linebacker Nic Black (Piqua, Ohio/Piqua) topped the team with seven tackles and senior defensive tackle Juan Howard (Wooster, Ohio/Wooster) chipped in with 6.5, including two for loss. Senior defensive end Tim Daoust (Toledo, Ohio/Central Catholic) had a half sack in the game to up his season total to eight and his career total to 27.5, tied for second-most in Wittenberg history. The record is 28 by Tim Altman, who played from 1992-95.
Wittenberg now advances to the NCAA Division III playoffs for a fourth consecutive year. The Tigers have a week off before learning who their opponent would be on Nov. 17 in the first round.