Wabash trailed by as many as 14 points, then led by 17, only to have to have freshman Mark Server (Plainfield, IN/Plainfield) kick a 27-yard field goal as the Little Giants defeated fourth-ranked Wittenberg 46-43 in overtime on Saturday afternoon.
It would be hard to believe that anyone in the nation would have thought that two teams ranked in the top-five in total defense would see the offenses combine for 1,003 yards of total offense and 89 points.
The Tigers jumped out to a 14-0 lead with defense and a big run by tailback Daniel Grove. With 5:24 left in the first quarter, Wittenberg’s Jim Lackmeyer snagged a tipped pass and returned it 22 yards to put the Tigers up 7-0. The next offensive possession for Wittenberg was a quick one as Grove scampered for 77 yards on the first play from scrimmage, then finished the drive with a three-yard run, scoring his 14th TD of the season.
Wabash battled back in the second quarter. Junior running back Chris Morris (Zionsville, IN/Zionsville) scored the first points for the Little Giants, capping a three-play, 43-yard drive with an 11-yard TD run. The next two scores of the quarter belonged to All-American tight end Ryan Short (Indianapolis, IN/Perry Meridian). Short led the Wabash receivers with seven receptions for 84 yards. Senior quarterback Jake Knott (Lafayette, IN/Jefferson) threw two of his three touchdown passes to Short in the second quarter, the second coming with 19 seconds left in the first half to give the Little Giants their first lead of the game at 21-14.
Knott, who owns nearly every passing record in the Wabash record book, found one he didn’t have midway through the third quarter. The senior hit freshman receiver Eric Summers (Indianapolis, IN/Cathedral) with a quick pass on the Wabash sideline. Summers took care of the rest, racing 86 yards for the longest pass reception in Wabash history, giving the Little Giants a 28-14 advantage.
Wittenberg’s quarterback, Greg Cornett, began to rally his Tiger teammates. Cornett, who finished the game hitting 33-of-52 passes for 367 yards and three TDs, threw his first scoring strike to Skip Ivery to cut the Wabash lead to eight after the Tigers missed the extra point. Another TD run for Wabash by Morris gave the Little Giants a 15-point lead before Cornett hit Ivery again, this time from 19 yards for the score. The Tigers failed to convert the two-point conversion, however, to allow Wabash to hold a nine-point lead.
Wabash took it’s biggest lead of the day at the start of the fourth quarter as Matt Piechocki (Evansville, IN/North Posey) capped a six-play, 61-yard drive with a one-yard run to put the Little Giants in front 43-26. The Tigers responded with 17 unanswered points, tying the game at 43-43 with 3:24 left in the contest. Both teams saw final drives fall short in the closing minutes of the game as Wittenberg had an attempt to break the tie end in an interception and Wabash saw the final pass of regulation fall between a host of Wittenberg defenders and two Little Giant receivers.
Wabash won the toss and went on defense in the extra period. Wittenberg opened the overtime with a seven-yard rush, followed by an incomplete pass to set up a third down and three play. Cornett completed the pass to Jered Glover, but senior linebacker Nate Boulais (Indianapolis, IN/Ben Davis) and freshman defender Aaron Selby (Crawfordsville, IN/Southmont) smothered Glover short of the first down marker to force the Tigers to attempt the field goal on fourth down. Conrad Hindert’s kick sailed wide right, giving the ball to Wabash for its overtime attempt.
Knott rushed for 11 yards on a quarterback draw on first down, one of 11 carries for 51 yards for the all-time leader in total offense in Wabash history. The Little Giants ran two more running plays to set the ball for Server, who blasted his only field goal attempt of the game through the uprights to extend Wabash’s winning streak to 12 games and avenge its last loss of 2001, a 14-3 defeat at the hands of Wittenberg.
Knott finished the game 27-51-1 for 373 yards. The Wabash defense held Grove to under 100 rushing yards for the second consecutive season, the third straight meeting between the two schools that the Little Giant defense has not allowed a Wittenberg rusher to carry for over 100 yards. Boulais led the Wabash defense with 16 tackles, including 10 solo stops.
Wabash junior Josh Bronaugh (Crawfordsville, IN/North Montgomery) caught four passes for 57 yards, but did most of his damage in the game with his kickoff returns. Bronaugh, who entered the game ranked eighth in the nation in kick returns, had four kickoff returns for 112 yards, including a 40-yard return that set up Morris’s two-yard TD run in the third quarter.
Wabash moves into a first-place tie with the College of Wooster in the North Coast Athletic Conference. The Little Giants are 5-0, 3-0 in conference play and are riding a nine-game winning streak in NCAC play. The loss snapped a 30-game winning streak against NCAC opponents for Wittenberg and ended its 36-game regular season home winning streak. Wittenberg falls to 4-1, 1-1 in the NCAC with the loss.