Posted October 13 2001, 08:37 pm
Posted by: Ryan Maurer
WOOSTER, Ohio — In perhaps their best performance of the 2001 season, the Wittenberg University Tigers pounced on the host College of Wooster Fighting Scots Saturday at John P. Papp Stadium in Wooster. The Tigers scored the game’s first 34 points and cruised to an impressive 47-13 victory.
The Tigers came out firing on all cylinders, stifling a solid Wooster offense that had gone over the 30-point mark three times in the team’s first four games and scoring three touchdowns in the first quarter alone. Senior wide receiver Michael Aljancic (Louisville, Ohio/Louisville) hauled in a 22-yard touchdown pass from junior quarterback Greg Cornett (Franklin, Ohio/Franklin) to open things, while junior tailback Daniel Grove (Uhrichsville, Ohio/Claymont) struck paydirt on runs of two and eight yards, the latter coming on the final play of the opening stanza.
Grove had the biggest rushing day of his career, adding a third touchdown midway through the second quarter on a 25-yard run in which he broke several tackles. He went on to put up 161 yards on just 17 carries. It was his third 100-yard rushing game of the season and his best performance since the Week 3 loss at Alma.
Junior wide receiver Adrian Crane (Indianapolis, Ind./Ben Davis) caught a 36-yard touchdown pass to round out the first-half scoring and stake Wittenberg to a 34-0 margin going into the locker room.
The second half was a bit more even, if only because Wittenberg emptied the bench as more than 60 players saw action. Freshman fullback Raymar Hampshire (Lima, Ohio/Elida), who enjoyed his best day as a collegian with 40 yards rushing, made it 40-0 with a one-yard scoring plunge midway through the third quarter. And freshman tailback Alex Smith (Blue Bell, Pa./Germantown Academy), a week after going over 100 yards in just one half of action at Denison, closed the scoring for Wittenberg with a one-yard run of his own just before the third quarter ended.
Wooster, which was held to just 88 total offensive yards in the first half, finally generated some points on its first drive of the third quarter, going 82 yards on eight plays and scoring on a 23-yard touchdown pass from Jeff Spraggins to Chris Cabot. Wide receiver Darryl Simmons caught the Tiger secondary on a 65-yard scoring reception to close the scoring on the Scots’ first drive of the fourth quarter.
Wittenberg, which improved to 6-1 overall and 4-0 in the NCAC, had 331 yards rushing compared to 81 yards for Wooster, which is the last team to defeat the Tigers in conference play — on Nov. 4, 1997 in Wooster. Through the air, the Tigers were efficient once again behind Cornett 10-of-16 passing for 156 yards and two touchdowns. His favorite target was the always reliable Aljancic, who had three catches for 42 yards to give him a career-high 41 receptions on the season. He is now within 10 catches of the Wittenberg career record and 12 of the season mark.
Defensively, Wittenberg held the Scots to 255 yards of total offense, led by junior linebacker Ryan Gresham’s (Columbus, Ohio/Eastmoor) six tackles, including two for a loss of 10 yards. Twenty different players made at least one tackle in the game.