GRANVILLE, Ohio (September 30, 2023) – The Denison University football team overcame a 14-point deficit in the fourth quarter to force overtime and scored first in the overtime period, but in the end, the Big Red suffered their first loss in North Coast Athletic Conference action so far this season as they fell 27-24 to Wittenberg University during Big Red Weekend.

On the first possession of overtime, Denison was unable to pick up a first down and settled for a 35-yard field goal by Daniel Cunningham to take its second lead of the game.

Unfortunately, after a one-yard rush on its first play, Wittenberg saw quarterback Max Milton drop back to pass and find Tyler May, who just got his foot down in the back of the endzone for the 24-yard, game-winning touchdown catch.

The story of the first half was a Big Red defense that limited the Tigers to just four first downs and five three-and-outs in their eight drives.

In the second half, however, the Tigers had their way to start as a three-and-out by Denison on its first drive was followed by a 74-yard touchdown catch and run by Wittenberg's Dean Tate, who broke through three attempted tackles on his way to the endzone during what was also the Tigers' first play of the half.

That tied it at 7-7, and Denison tried to respond with a 31-yard catch and run by Billy Guzzo on its next drive to get it into Wittenberg territory, but an eight-yard sack on third-and-five was followed by an incomplete pass on fourth down to give the Tigers the ball back.

Smelling blood in the water, the Tigers went quickly down field against the Big Red defense, coming up with a 34-yard reception diving down the sideline on the second play of the drive before an easy 10-yard touchdown pass just three plays later. It was a five-play, 68-yard drive for the Tigers to take a 14-7 lead with six minutes left in the third quarter.

Two more three-and-outs by the Denison offense was followed by nine-play, 58-yard drive for Wittenberg that ended with a one-yard rushing touchdown to make it 21-7 just over three minutes into the fourth quarter.

On the next Big Red drive, Denison picked up back-to-back first downs with a 10-yard run by quarterback Jimmy Stines on third-and-six followed by an 11-yard run by Trey Fabrocini on first down.

After falling short on fourth down in Tigers' territory twice earlier in the game, Denison faced fourth-down-and-seven from the Wittenberg 22-yard line, but this time, Stines came up big with a 12-yard completion to  tight end Jon Adamson to move the chains and get the Big Red to first-and-goal from the 10-yard line.

Two plays later, an outside run by Fabrocini got it into the endzone from eight yards out to cut it to a one score game (21-14) with 7:28 remaining.

The ensuing Wittenberg drive ended with a timely eight-yard sack by Clay Denstorff and Collin Hill on third-and-eight, and then after starting near midfield, the Denison offense was able to pick up three first downs on rushing plays, all on third down. The first was a four-yard run by Vincent Cognetta on third-and-four before a seven-yard rush by Fabrocini on third-and-six and a 10-yard run by Fabrocini on third-and-eight to keep the drive alive.

That got Denison into the redzone at the Wittenberg 19-yard line, and then two plays later, Stines finished off the drive with a 20-yard pass to Josh Aiello in the back corner of the endzone to tie it up at 21-21 with just 1:09 remaining in regulation.

As Wittenberg tried to drive into field goal range, Milton was stuffed for no gain by linebacker Jeff Moore on his rushing attempt on third-and-one, giving the ball back to Denison with 45 seconds left and two timeouts.

A 17-yard pass to Adamson got Denison to just past midfield in the final 10 seconds, and then three plays later, a hail marry by Stines toward the endzone was well short, but was caught by Guzzo for 39 yards to end regulation.

Stines finished 18-for-36 for 202 yards and two touchdowns for Denison while Milton was 22-for-37 for 294 yards and three touchdowns for Wittenberg. Guzzo caught four passes for 101 yards and a touchdown while Adamson caught seven passes for 66 yards.

The focus of the Big Red offensive attack was the ground game by Fabrocini, who rushed 32 times for 143 yards and one touchdown while the Tigers were limited to just 55 total rushing yards.

On its second drive of the game, Wittenberg was driving well into Denison territory before a third-and-three play from the Denison 21-yard line resulted in a tip at the line by Michael Ballenger, leading to an interception by Denstorff to stop the drive in its tracks.

In the final five minutes of the first quarter, Denison picked up its first first down of the game with a 17-yard completion to Adamson on third-and-two from the Wittenberg 46.

At least for a moment, that seemed to wake up the Big Red offense, which two plays later saw a 27-yard touchdown completion from Stines to Guzzo for the first points of the day.

With 12 minutes on the clock in the second quarter, a seven-yard sack by the Tigers on third-and-10 gave Wittenberg the ball back in Big Red territory for its next drive, but the Denison defense held tough with its fourth three-and-out forced among the Tigers' first six drives.

Five drives into the second quarter, Denison picked up the first first down of the period thanks again to a catch by Adamson, who had to lay out for the eight-yard pick up.

Denison's drive continued as on second-and-10 from the Big Red 43-yard line, a rush by Guzzo on an option play went 14 yards for a first down to get it into Wittenberg territory.

Unfortunately, five plays later, a nine-yard sack on fourth-and-17 from the Wittenberg 36-yard line gave the Tigers the ball on their own 45-yard line.

Wittenberg proceeded to rattle off a 19-yard run on third-down-and-22 before coming up with a six-yard rush by the quarterback on fourth down, but three incompletions later the Big Red defense again held strong to get it to halftime.

Denison's defensive effort was led by Jack Nimesheim with 12 tackles and 1.5 tackles for loss while Collin Murphy added nine tackles, Moore had eight tackles, Layton Reesor had six tackles, Hill had five tackles and 1.5 tackles for loss, and Denstorff had four tackles, one sack and one interception.

Denison drops to 3-2 overall and 2-1 in the NCAC while Wittenberg improves to 3-1 and 2-0.

Next up will be another tough matchup for Denison as it travels to play at DePauw University for a 1 p.m. kickoff on Saturday, October 7, in Greencastle, Indiana.