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SPRINGFIELD, Ohio - The Wittenberg Tigers made short work of their winless visitors from Kenyon, pulling away for a 49-7 Homecoming victory at sunny Edwards-Maurer Field.
The win was Wittenberg's sixth in a row since a season-opening loss to Butler, and it allowed the Tigers to keep pace with Wabash atop the North Coast Athletic Conference (NCAC) standings at 6-0. The Tigers, ranked 14th in the latest D3football.com poll, and the Little Giants, unbeaten and ranked 10th in the latest poll, share a two-game lead over Wooster and DePauw with three games left in the 2014 regular season.
Wabash heads to Hiram next week, while Wittenberg hits the road for a game at Ohio Wesleyan. The two teams will then meet in Springfield on Saturday, Nov. 8, for a game that could once again determine the NCAC title.
First things first, however, and that was for the Tigers to take care of business before a capacity crowd on a Homecoming Weekend that featured nearly perfect weather conditions. Wittenberg was far from perfect in the beating Kenyon for the 23rd straight time, but the Tigers still finished with 414 yards of total offense, compared to 197 for the Lords as seven different players found the end zone.
After a sluggish start, Wittenberg got on the board with an 11-yard touchdown pass from junior quarterback Zack Jenkins (Frostproof, Fla./Frostproof) to junior running back Sean Gary (Indianapolis, Ind./Decatur Central) at the 3:51 mark of the first quarter that capped an efficient five-play, 88-yard drive. With 10 seconds left in the first quarter, the Tigers made it 14-0 on a 17-yard completion from Jenkins to senior tight end Clay Mangen (Union, Ohio/Northmont).
By halftime, the lead had ballooned to 35-0. Jenkins scored on a one-yard run, junior cornerback Ryan Myers (Palm Harbor, Fla./University) returned a blocked field goal 84 yards for a score, and junior tailback Jimmy Dehnke (Canton, Ohio/Massillon Jackson) rounded things out with a 26-yard TD reception from Jenkins. Junior defensive tackle Josh Bannick (Enon, Ohio/Greenon) was the man who broke through the line to block the field goal.
In the second half, a host of players rotated in and out of the Tiger line-up. Junior wide receiver Corey Stump (Lima, Ohio/Central Catholic) scored on a 29-yard touchdown pass from freshman quarterback Timmy Bates (Westerville, Ohio/South), and Bates capped the scoring with a two-yard TD run. In between Kenyon answered with a three-yard touchdown run by quarterback Jake Bates.
Jenkins finished 10-of-18 for 140 yards and three touchdowns on the day, in addition to seven carries for 58 yards. Gary led the ground attack with 11 carries for 79 yards, while Stump was tops in receiving with 87 yards on four catches.
The defense was paced by junior safety Winston Thomas (Lewis Center, Ohio/Olentangy) with 10 tackles, a forced fumble and a pass broken up. Senior linebacker Evan Killilea (Columbus, Ohio/DeSales) added 10 tackles and Bannick contributed eight stops to go along with his blocked kick.