‘Awesome way to open the season’ — Wittenberg starts 2024 season against old rival

The 1999 victory gave Wittenberg a 21-20 edge in the series. There was also a 17-17 tie in 1978. When the OAC held championship games from 1972-83, Wittenberg or Baldwin Wallace played each other in seven of the 12 games and combined to win nine championships.

The Tigers and Yellow Jackets meet again at noon Saturday in the 2024 season opener in Berea. It’s the 46th annual Lee Tressel Classic, named after the former B-W coach whose son Jim Tressel played for him at Baldwin Wallace years before coaching at Ohio State. Jim now serves on Baldwin Wallace’s Board of Trustees and is expected to attend the game Saturday.

Baldwin Wallace will play at Wittenberg in 2025. The return of the series was announced in January 2022.

“I’ve got a lot of respect for that program,” third-year Wittenberg coach Jim Collins said, “and I’m sure they feel the same about us. I think it’s going to be an awesome way to open up this season.”

Baldwin-Wallace finished 6-4 last season and 6-3 in the league. It was picked to finish fourth in the OAC behind Mount Union, John Carroll and Marietta.

Wittenberg was picked to finish third in the North Coast Athletic Conference behind DePauw and Wabash and received one first-place vote. The Tigers finished 7-3 overall and 6-2 in the NCAC last season.

Collins talked about the 2024 roster last week one day after the annual preseason scrimmage against Muskingum:

Captains: Senior quarterback Max Milton and senior linebacker Mario Getaw Jr. are new captains. Fifth-year tight end Troy Teepe is a second-year captain. Fifth-year linebacker Cameron Snurr, of Springboro, is a third-year captain.

Players vote on captains.

“It’s good to see guys like Snurr and Teepe return in those leadership roles,” Collins said, “and then Milton and Getaw have really stood out as leaders since I’ve been here. They were freshmen when I first got here. You could tell they were leaders.”

Quarterback: Milton will start at quarterback for the second straight season. Last season, he completed 208 of 310 passes (67.1%) for 2,304. He had 24 touchdown passes and seven interceptions. He made the All-NCAC third team last season.

Sophomore Luka Garver is the backup to Milton. Freshman Stephen Lauterbach, of Oakwood, and freshman Jayden Miller are also in the mix.

Running back: With sophomore running back Josiah Payne, a Chaminade Julienne graduate, sidelined by an injury in the preseason, Wittenberg turned Christian Manville, a sophomore, and two freshmen: Shawnee graduate T.J. Meeks; and Oakwood graduate Johnell Wilson. Manville played at Limestone University last season.

Wide receiver: Sophomore wide receiver Kade Ray stood out as the kickoff returner against Muskingum and had two big touchdown plays, Collins said. He appeared in seven games last season and had four receptions.

Senior Bryce Ray, Kade’s brother, will also be in the rotation. Ray was at Wittenberg last season and ran track but did not play football.

Collins also expects sophomore Eric Rasheed, who played in one game at Western Carolina last season, and freshman Mikey Marrero to contribute.

The top returners are seniors Kahleel Trent, another Springboro graduate, and Earl Pope, who had two touchdowns in the scrimmage. They combined for 25 catches last season.

Tight end: Teepe led the Tigers with eight touchdown catches last season.

Offensive line: Wittenberg returns four starters: senior left tackle Wyatt Osterhage, a Centerville graduate who made the All-NCAC second team last season; junior left guard Andrew McFeeters; senior center Ed Bolden, a Lakota West graduate; and senior right tackle Angel Bravo.

Three players are competing for the fifth spot: senior Javaughn Neal; sophomore Scott Arnold; and sophomore Evan Davis.

Defensive line: Sophomore Dalton Allen was a backup last season and will start at tackle this season.

Junior Eli Renick, who led the team with four sacks last season, and senior Nick Wadsworth return after starting last season.

Getaw, who played linebacker last season, moves to the defensive line, where Collins expects him to add in the pash rush.

Linebacker: Sophomore linebacker Trye Smith, one of 29 players on the roster from Florida, returns after leading the team with 70 tackles as a freshman. He won the NCAC Newcomer of the Year award last season and made the All-NCAC second team.

Snurr, who has 174 tackles over three seasons, returns for a fifth year, taking advantage of of the extra year of eligibility given to everyone who was in college football during the pandemic year of 2020.

Senior Tyler Van Meter is a first-year starter at outside linebacker.

Cornerback: Two key players return: senior Darien Williams; and senior Max Yost, of Springboro.

Junior Quatrell Black, a transfer from the University of Indianapolis, and sophomore Jaquavious Washington, a transfer from Ferris State, will be in the mix along with freshman Antonio Jordan.

Safety: Fifth-year senior Josh Collins, of Springboro, and junior Luke Jackson, a backup the last two years, are two new starters.

Special teams: Junior punter Hayden Olcott returns after averaging 38.1 yards per punt last season. Junior Lucas Swierk, who also plays wide receiver, is the starting placekicker.

Wittenberg seeks its first NCAC championship since 2019 and its first NCAA Division III playoff berth since 2017. Prior to this stretch, Wittenberg had not missed the playoffs more than three seasons in a row since the early 1990s.

Last season, Wittenberg was 5-1 and had a 35-21 lead at home against DePauw only to give up two touchdowns in the last seven minutes and then lose 41-35 in overtime. A 52-20 loss at Wabash followed the next week.

DePauw went on to finish 10-0 and 8-0 in the league and win the championship, its third straight outright title, by two games over Wittenberg, Wabash and Denison.

“Last year, we saw that happened against DePauw,” Collins said. “We didn’t finish. Strategically, you’ve got to really be equipped, whether it’s in play-calling or in the strategy and the pace that you’re playing at, to be able to put teams away in the fourth quarter and finish games. It’s a mindset. We’ve worked on it all winter and in the spring and in this preseason. More than anything, it’s just narrowing the focus and playing one play at a time.”

Credit: David Jablonski

Credit: David Jablonski