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Wittenberg 39, Ohio Wesleyan 14 (10/20/2001)

Daniel Grove ran for 259 yards and scored 3 touchdowns to propel Wittenberg to a win over Ohio Wesleyan in a showdown for first place in the North Coast Athletic Conference race on Saturday in Springfield.

Wittenberg wasted little time in getting on the scoreboard, putting together a 9-play, 59-yard drive in its opening possession. Grove went over from 11 yards out for the score, but the drive's key play was a 24-yard strike from Greg Cornett to Adrian Crane for 24 yards on third-and-15 from the Bishop 41.

Ohio Wesleyan came right back with a march of its own, led by senior tailback Matt Capone (Cleveland/Padua) and junior halfback Bernie Vendlinski (Brunswick/Highland). Vendlinski carried twice for first downs and Capone added another as the Bishops drove to the Wittenberg 20, then Capone rumbled for 7 yards on a third-and-2 from the Tiger 12 for a first down on the Wittenberg 5. Two more Capone carries got Ohio Wesleyan inside the 1-yard line, but senior quarterback Mike Jonesco (Oberlin/Elyria Catholic) tossed an incompletion on third down and Capone's try on fourth down was stopped just short of the Tiger goal line.

Ohio Wesleyan answered with a goal-line stand of its own early in the second quarter. Wittenberg's Conrad Hindert had booted a 37-yard field goal on the first snap of the period, but the Bishops were called for roughing the holder on the play and Wittenberg chose to take the points off the board and try its luck with a first down at the 10-yard line.

Two rushing plays got the Tigers to the Bishop 1, but junior linebacker Chad Marlatt (Coshocton/Ridgewood) dumped Grove for a loss of 1 on third down and sophomore linebacker Billy Chrisovergis (Dayton/Bellbrook) stopped Grove for no gain on fourth down.

Wittenberg boosted its lead to 13-0 on a 36-yard TD pass from Cornett to Crane with 12:01 left in the first half.

Ohio Wesleyan answered with an 80-yard drive, set up by Vendlinski's 76-yard run on the first play following the ensuing kickoff. Vendlinski got around the left end, juked a Tiger defender on the sideline, cut across the field and got to the right sideline before he was hauled down at the Tiger 4. Two plays later, Jonesco found sophomore split end Bryan Beigie (Shaker Heights/Stow Walsh Jesuit) on an 11-yard scoring strike with 10:18 left in the first half.

The Bishop defense forced the Tigers to settle for a field goal on their next possession, but later in the period, Grove broke loose and galloped down the left sideline for a 72-yard TD run. Wittenberg got another field goal on the final play of the first half and took a 26-7 lead into the locker room.

Grove went over from 2 yards out late in the third period to make it 32-7, Wittenberg, and Raymar Hampshire scored on an 8-yard run in the fourth quarter for a 39-7 Tiger lead.

Capone scored on a 2-yard run for Ohio Wesleyan's final TD. The score was set up by junior halfback Jason Osborne (Oak Harbor), who broke loose for 17 yards on a third-and-3 play from the Tiger 25.

Capone led the Bishops with 135 yards in 26 carries and caught a team-high 3 passes for 22 yards. The 135 rushing yards raised his career total to 3245, breaking the Ohio Wesleyan career record of 3160 set by Kevin Sims from 1988-90. Vendlinski finished with 115 yards in 7 carries. Jonesco completed 7 of 24 passes for 55 yards.

Grove led all rushers with 259 yards in 31 attempts. Cornett was 14-for-22 for 207 yards and 1 touchdown. Skip Ivery had 5 catches for 48 yards for the Tigers.

Defensive standouts for the Bishops included junior cornerback Steve Siefert (Sylvania/Northview), who had a team-high 15 tackles; senior safety Matt Lavish (Bay Village/Bay), who made 13 stops; junior linebacker Chad Marlatt (Coshocton/Ridgewood), whose 9 tackles included 4 for loss; and senior tackle Steve Schoenberger (West Carrollton), who had 2 sacks among his 9 tackles.