Witt hammers Hiram on Senior Day

Wittenberg walloped Hiram 71-7 — an expected result against the winless Terriers — and then heard moments after the game that Oberlin had upset 10th-ranked Wabash 31-16 in Crawfordsville, Ind., strengthening Wittenberg’s chances of claiming the North Coast Athletic Conference’s automatic playoff berth.

“This performance definitely means a lot,” said Marshall, a philosophy major who will graduate next spring. “It really means a lot to go out in style. Making the decision to transfer to Wittenberg (after his freshman season at Mercyhurst) has been the best decision I’ve made thus far, both academically and athletically.”

Marshall had three tackles Saturday and only had to play a half. Wittenberg’s starters left at halftime with a 42-0 lead. The Tigers scored 35 points in the second quarter, one off the school record.

Reed Florence threw three touchdown passes and ran for two more scores in the first half, and the defense did its part to light up the scoreboard. Linebacker Spencer Leno returned an interception 54 yards for a score. He had never scored at any level of football.

“I told myself before the season, if I got an interception, I was going to take it to the house,” Leno said.

The defense scored again in the fourth quarter. Junior Tyler Slade returned an interception 40 yards for a score.

The offense got its act together after two turnovers in the first quarter, but it wasn’t its best performance, even if the scoreboard said otherwise.

“I don’t know if we did anything well offensively,” Wittenberg coach Joe Fincham said. “We probably had the same day offensively as our defense did last week. Hopefully, it’s out of our system.”

The Tigers improved to 8-1 and 5-1 in the NCAC. Wabash dropped out of first, but the Tigers remain tied with Ohio Wesleyan and Kenyon. Wittenberg can clinch a share of the title in the regular-season finale, but it has to win at Oberlin — far from a given after the Yeomen pulled off one of the biggest upsets in NCAC history.

“For whatever it’s worth (Oberlin coach) Jeff Ramsey does as fine a job year in and year out as any coach in our league,” Fincham said. “I’ve voted him more than once for coach of the year.”