Denison knocks Wittenberg out of first place in NCAC

David Jablonski, Springfield News-Sun, Ohio
·1 min read

Oct. 22—Wittenberg's North Coast Athletic Conference championship and NCAA Division III playoff dreams died — in all likelihood — with a 28-10 loss to Denison on Saturday at Edwards-Maurer Field.

Wittenberg (4-3, 4-2), which began the day with a half-game lead in the NCAC, lost to Denison (6-2, 4-2) for the third straight season.

In the first three quarters, Wittenberg scored only on a 24-yard field goal by Brandon Goodwin and came up empty twice in the red zone.

Wittenberg faced 2nd-and-goal at the Denison 9-yard line in the first quarter when Collin Brown was intercepted at the Denison 5. On 4th-and-3 from the Denison 8 in the third quarter, Brown threw an incompletion in the end zone.

Denison took a 7-0 lead on its second drive when Drew Dawkins threw a 13-yard touchdown pass to Josh Aiello. After taking a 7-3 lead into halftime, Denison built a 14-3 advantage when Dawkins ran 80 yards for a touchdown on the first play of the second half.

Denison extended its lead to 21-3 on a 23-yard touchdown pass from Dawkins to Billy Guzzo with 10:22 left in the fourth quarter.

Wittenberg's only touchdown came with 4:25 left in the game. Brown threw a 13-yard touchdown pass to Drew Sterett.