BY JEFF FALK
PHOTO BY BLAKE NELSON, WITTENBERG CLASS OF 2017
Sometimes, destiny determines destination.
On Saturday afternoon in Springfield Ohio, in the round of the 32 in the NCAA Division Three national football tournament, one of the most successful seasons in the history of the Lebanon Valley College football program came to an end the same way many great seasons do – with a loss. The Flying Dutchmen were manhandled 59-17 by Wittenberg, the 12th-ranked team in the country.
Wittenberg did not punt during the contest and scored on nine of its ten possessions. The Tigers rolled up 600 yards of total offense against the vaunted Lebanon Valley defense, 354 through the air and 246 on the ground.
Lebanon Valley, which was making its first ever appearance in the NCAA Division Three national tournament, ended its campaign with back-to-back losses and an 8-3 overall record. The Flying Dutchmen shared a piece of the Middle Atlantic Conference championship.
Wittenberg, champions of the North Coast Coast Athletic Conference, moved to 10-1 and into a Sweet 16 match-up with top-ranked Mount Union. The Tigers improved to 7-0 in NCAA opening-round games they have hosted and are 13-3 overall in that particular stage of the national tournament.
Wittenberg tallied 31 unanswered points in the first half to take a 38-3 lead to the locker room.
The Tigers drove the opening kickoff 75 yards in six plays to take a 7-0 lead 3:05 into the game. The Flying Dutchmen responded with a nine-play, 66-yard possession and kicker Sean Fakete’s 20-yard field goal.
Lebanon Valley did interrupt the Tigers’ onslaught early in the second half when quarterback Brian Murphy hooked up with senior wideout Joey Miller for a 16-yard scoring play that made it 38-10. The play capped a 12-play, 79-yard march.
The Flying Dutchmen’s other touchdown was scored by Elco product Tyler George. George hauled in a 35-yard scoring strike from Murphy with 3:53 left in the third quarter to make it a 45-17 score.
George finished with three catches and 81 yards. Teammate Brendon Irving carried the pigskin 17 times for 101 yards.
The Lebanon Valley offense was responsible for 358 yards of total offense.
Lebanon Valley 17 |
Wittenberg 59 |
SCORING | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | FINAL |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Lebanon Valley (8-3) | 3 | 0 | 14 | 0 | 17 |
Wittenberg (10-1) | 21 | 17 | 7 | 14 | 59 |
Springfield, Ohio | Edwards-Maurer Field |
PRD | TIME | SCORING SUMMARY | LEBANON VALLEY – WITTENBERG |
---|---|---|---|
1 | 11:55 | Wittenberg – Desi Kirkman 35 yd pass from Reed Florence. (Evan Grissom kick is good). Drive: 6 plays, 75 yards in 3:05. |
0 – 7 |
1 | 06:50 | Lebanon Valley – Sean Fakete 20 yd field goal. Drive: 9 plays, 66 yards in 4:58. |
3 – 7 |
1 | 04:53 | Wittenberg – B. Cunningham 33 yd pass from Reed Florence. (Evan Grissom kick is good). Drive: 4 plays, 71 yards in 1:50. |
3 – 14 |
1 | 01:12 | Wittenberg – Desi Kirkman 65 yd pass from Reed Florence. (Evan Grissom kick is good). Drive: 3 plays, 73 yards in 1:19. |
3 – 21 |
2 | 13:08 | Wittenberg – Desi Kirkman 90 yd punt return for TD. (Evan Grissom kick is good). | 3 – 28 |
2 | 01:16 | Wittenberg – Desi Kirkman 41 yd pass from Reed Florence. (Evan Grissom kick is good). Drive: 4 plays, 44 yards in 2:09. |
3 – 35 |
2 | 00:09 | Wittenberg – Evan Grissom 18 yd field goal. Drive: 7 plays, 31 yards in 0:42. |
3 – 38 |
3 | 09:32 | Lebanon Valley – Joey Miller 16 yd pass from Brian Murphy. (Sean Fakete kick is good). Drive: 12 plays, 79 yards in 5:21. |
10 – 38 |
3 | 05:45 | Wittenberg – Desi Kirkman 24 yd pass from Reed Florence. (Evan Grissom kick is good). Drive: 10 plays, 79 yards in 3:42. |
10 – 45 |
3 | 03:53 | Lebanon Valley – Tyler George 35 yd pass from Brian Murphy. (Sean Fakete kick is good). Drive: 5 plays, 65 yards in 1:45. |
17 – 45 |
4 | 10:20 | Wittenberg – Jimmy Dehnke 15 yd pass from Reed Florence. (Evan Grissom kick is good). Drive: 13 plays, 86 yards in 7:09. |
17 – 52 |
4 | 00:55 | Wittenberg – Zack Jenkins 24 yd run. (Taylor Gannon kick is good). Drive: 13 plays, 91 yards in 8:22. |
17 – 59 |
LEBANON VALLEY | STATISTICS | WITTENBERG |
---|---|---|
19 | FIRST DOWNS | 29 |
9 7 3 |
Passing Rushing Penalty |
13 14 2 |
33% (4 of 12) | THIRD DOWN EFFICIENCY | 85% (11 of 13) |
33% (1 of 3) | FOURTH DOWN EFFICIENCY | 0% (0 of 1) |
358 | TOTAL OFFENSE | 600 |
62 5.8 |
Total Offensive Plays Average gain per play |
68 8.8 |
205 | NET YARDS PASSING | 344 |
11-30 6.8 1-8 1 |
Completions-Attempts Net yards per pass play Sacked: Number-Yards Had intercepted |
15-21 16.4 1-16 0 |
153 | NET YARDS RUSHING | 256 |
32 4.8 |
Rushing Attempts Average gain per rush |
47 5.4 |
4-119 | PUNTS: Number-Yards | 0-0 |
29.8 | Average | |
120 | TOTAL RETURN YARDS | 184 |
0 0 8-120 0 0 |
Punt Returns: Number-Yards Kickoff Returns: Number-Yards Interception Returns: Number-Yards |
3-117 3-62 1-5 |
4-40 | PENALTIES: Number-Yards | 11-131 |
0-0 | FUMBLES: Number-Lost | 1-0 |
1-16 | SACKS: Number-Yards | 1-8 |
0 0 | INTERCEPTIONS: Number-Yards | 1-5 |
28:19 | TIME OF POSSESSION | 31:41 |
Lebanon Valley |
Wittenberg |
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DEFENSIVE STATISTICS | ||||||||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
# | LEBANON VALLEY | SOLO | AST | TOTAL | SACKS-YDS | TFL-YDS | FF | FR-YDS | INT-YDS | BRUP | BLKS | QBH |
9 | David Kennedy | 5 | 7 | 12 | – | – | – | – | ||||
35 | A Beamesderfer | 4 | 7 | 11 | – | 1 – 6 | – | – | ||||
14 | Bryan Kasper | 4 | 1 | 5 | – | – | – | – | ||||
95 | Zach Halpin | 3 | 2 | 5 | – | – | – | – | ||||
96 | A. Burkholder | 4 | 1 | 5 | – | – | – | – | ||||
98 | Kevin Smith | 0 | 4 | 4 | – | – | – | – | ||||
8 | Frank Gaffney | 3 | 0 | 3 | – | – | – | – | ||||
51 | Joey Scerbo | 1 | 2 | 3 | 1 – 16 | 1 – 16 | – | – | ||||
19 | Zach Wierman | 1 | 1 | 2 | – | – | – | – | ||||
36 | Josh Borreli | 1 | 1 | 2 | – | – | – | – | ||||
37 | Bryan Ek | 1 | 1 | 2 | – | – | – | – | ||||
46 | Kevin Antol | 1 | 1 | 2 | – | – | – | – | ||||
47 | Ryan Melley | 1 | 1 | 2 | – | – | – | – | 1 | |||
48 | Tyler Laudeman | 1 | 1 | 2 | – | – | – | – | ||||
56 | Adam Soltys | 0 | 2 | 2 | – | – | – | – | ||||
86 | Trevor St.Clair | 1 | 1 | 2 | – | – | – | – | ||||
17 | Kyle Beissel | 1 | 0 | 1 | – | – | – | – | ||||
23 | Reid Pavlik | 0 | 1 | 1 | – | – | – | – | ||||
32 | DJ Johnson | 0 | 1 | 1 | – | – | – | – | ||||
44 | Austin Hartman | 1 | 0 | 1 | – | – | – | – | ||||
66 | Tony Shearer | 1 | 0 | 1 | – | – | – | – | ||||
69 | Joseph Myers | 1 | 0 | 1 | – | – | – | – | ||||
78 | C Williard | 0 | 1 | 1 | – | – | – | – | ||||
TOTALS | 35 | 36 | 71 | 1 – 16 | 2 – 22 | 0-0 | – | 1 | ||||
# | WITTENBERG | SOLO | AST | TOTAL | SACKS-YDS | TFL-YDS | FF | FR-YDS | INT-YDS | BRUP | BLKS | QBH |
40 | Spencer Leno | 2 | 6 | 8 | 1 – 8 | 1 – 8 | – | – | ||||
39 | Kyle Sanning | 2 | 5 | 7 | – | – | – | – | ||||
20 | Heath Eby | 3 | 3 | 6 | – | – | – | – | ||||
43 | Evan Killilea | 3 | 3 | 6 | – | – | – | – | ||||
63 | Josh Bannick | 3 | 3 | 6 | – | – | – | – | ||||
97 | Brady Vanover | 0 | 5 | 5 | – | – | – | 1-5 | ||||
1 | Victor Banjo | 2 | 2 | 4 | – | – | – | – | 3 | |||
36 | Mark Swope | 2 | 2 | 4 | – | – | – | – | ||||
44 | Austin Towsey | 4 | 0 | 4 | – | – | – | – | ||||
37 | Nick Gibson | 1 | 2 | 3 | – | – | – | – | ||||
6 | Winston Thomas | 2 | 0 | 2 | – | – | – | – | ||||
21 | Ryan Myers | 1 | 1 | 2 | – | – | – | – | 3 | |||
51 | Wes Thompson | 1 | 1 | 2 | – | – | – | – | ||||
52 | Caden Leichty | 1 | 1 | 2 | – | – | – | – | ||||
93 | Josh Montgomery | 0 | 2 | 2 | – | – | – | – | ||||
5 | Zac Wilson | 0 | 1 | 1 | – | – | – | – | 1 | |||
22 | Gabe Cunningham | 0 | 1 | 1 | – | – | – | – | ||||
30 | Raphael Allen | 1 | 0 | 1 | – | – | – | – | ||||
TOTALS | 28 | 38 | 66 | 1 – 8 | 1 – 8 | 0-0 | 1-5 | 6 | 1 |