Three touchdowns and a field goal on the first four possessions of the game led the Wabash College football team to a 41-14 rout over the eighth-ranked Tigers of Wittenberg University on Saturday afternoon.
A near-capacity Homecoming crowd watched the Little Giant offense march 79 yards on the first two drives of the game to take a 14-0 lead and never looked back. Freshman running back Aaron Lafitte (Goodyear, AZ/Ironwood) scored on two 22-yard runs to put Wabash in front. He finished the game with a career-best 157 yards on 27 carries.
While the Wabash offense was clicking, the Little Giant defense was keeping up its part. Wittenberg was held to three first downs and 40 yards of total offense on 20 plays in the first half. The Tigers were forced to punt on all four possessions in the first 30 minutes of the game. Junior tailback Raymar Hampshire, who came into the game averaging 110 yards a contest on the ground, was held to 18 yards in the first half and 49 yards on 16 carries in the game. Wittenberg would manage a meager 52 yards and one touchdown on the ground.
The Little Giants were not to be stopped in the second quarter, much as in the first period. An Olmy Olmstead (Alexandria, OH/Granville) 29-yard field goal capped a 15-play, 70-yard drive to put the Little Giants ahead 17-0 a third of the way through the second period. After a three-and-out series by the Tigers, Wabash return specialist Josh Bronaugh (New Ross, IN/North Montgomery) took the Wittenberg punt back 24 yards to give the Little Giants the football at the Tigers’ 36 yard line.
 Russ Harbaugh
Eric Summers
Dustin Deno
Nick Fanelli |
Wittenberg put pressure on sophomore quarterback Russ Harbaugh (Evansville, IN/Evansville Bosse), but he slid to an opening on the right of the line and spotted a wide-open Eric Summers (Indianapolis, IN/Cathedral) in the endzone for the TD pass.
With the Little Giants already in front 24-0 at the half, the game got even better for the Wabash defense. Wittenberg took the second-half kickoff and went 13 yards on five plays before Dustin Deno (Lafayette, IN/Jefferson) stepped in front of a Ryan Holmes pass for an interception. Another big drive, this time six plays for 69 yards, was capped with Lafitte pounding into the endzone for his third touchdown of the game, this time from six yards out for a 31-0 lead. The Tigers final broke their scoreless drought late in the third quarter with a two-yard scoring run by Hampshire, but Wabash answered with a 41-yard field goal by Mark Server (Plainfield, IN/Plainfield) for a 34-7 lead. Wittenberg tacked on another score on a 34-yard pass from Holmes to Skip Ivery with 10:34 left in the contest in the comeback effort. But the Wabash defense would have none of it, coming up with interceptions by Val Benoit (LaJoya, TX/LaJoya) and Nick Fanelli (Crown Point, IN/Lake Central). Fanelli’s pick came with just over a minute left in the game, and became the final scoring opportunity of the game when the senior linebacker raced 68 yards into the endzone for his third interception of the season and second returned for a touchdown. Harbaugh finished the game with a career-high 254 yards on 22-of-32 passing. He had one touchdown and one interception. Holmes had 249 yards passing (19-of-36) for Wittenberg. He had not thrown an interception in his first four games, but had three against Wabash.
Summers led the Wabash receivers with eight receptions for 102 yards and the one score. Bronaugh added 83 yards on five catches. Senior Chris Morris (Zionsville, IN/Zionsville) added 48 yards on nine carries to the rushing numbers for the Little Giants, who finished with 222 yards on the ground in addition to Harbaugh’s 254 in the air. T.T. Jackson (Evansville, IN/Evansville Harrison) led the Wabash defense with 11 tackles. |
Wabash moves to 3-2 overall with the win, 1-1 in the North Coast Athletic Conference. The Tigers fall for the first time this season, dropping to 4-1 overall and 1-1 in the NCAC. The Little Giants are the first team to post back-to-back victories against Wittenberg in conference play. Wabash has won the last three meetings between the two schools, posting a 46-43 overtime win at Wittenberg last year to spoil the Tigers’ Homecoming contest. The Little Giants defeated Wittenberg 25-14 in the playoffs in Crawfordsville last season.
