Hiram, OH -- Sept. 24, 2022 --  The Wittenberg Tigers took the opening drive 77 yards in six plays to take a 7-0 lead on the way to a 38-14 victory over the Hiram Terriers this afternoon on Henry Field on Hiram's campus.

Hiram answered with a nice 12-play drive that ended in a punt, and the Terriers trailed only 7-0 after one quarter.

Wittenberg struck for three scores in the second quarter.  Trailing 21-0 with a minute to play in the quarter, Terriers' freshman QB Sean Tejada scrambled to the right and threw a 33-yard pick-six by the Tigers' Jourdan Stipe, making it 28-0 at halftime.

After a 17-yard field goal by Wittenberg with 5:57 remaining in the third quarter, Tejada led the Terriers on a nine-play drive, covering 72 yards, culminating in a 14-yard TD toss to senior wide receiver Raequan Davis-Hereford for Hiram's first score.

At the start of the fourth quarter, the Terriers struck quickly on two rushes from their own nine yard line. Senior RB Malcolm Rogers ripped off 23 yards and followed that with a 68-sprint to the end zone.  That made it 31-14 with 13:30 remaining in the game.

But just as Hiram was thinking about a comeback, Wittenberg's Gene Nobles took the ensuing kickoff 100 yards down the right sideline to effectively put the game out of reach, 38-14.

Rogers led all rushers in the game with 108 yards on eight carries, with 91 yards coming on the two consecutive runs early in the fourth quarter  Freshman RB Donte Venter added 31 yards on eight rushes.

Tejada started at QB and played the whole game. turning in his finest performance so far, completing 17-of-32 passes for 154 yards and a TD.  His top target was Davis-Hereford with eight receptions for 75 yards, one score and two interceptions.

Hiram's defense was led by junior linebacker Dylan Baliker, who was in on 15 tackles, including three unassisted.  Freshman safety Priceton Brown came up with 13 tackles, including five unassisted. Sophomore safety Malakai Nation accounted for a team-high seven unassisted tackles and added two more assists for a total of nine tackles for the day.  Freshman cornerback Kay Scott contributed seven tackles, with five of the unassisted variety..  Freshman linebacker Gavin Cruser made six tackles, while junior defensive tackle Rocky Pedro and senior DE Jalen Glass each totaled five tackles.

Hiram will travel to NCAC member Oberlin next Saturday, Oct. 1, to play the 1,000th football game in Hiram College history.