Wittenberg knew it had Capital on the ropes in the first quarter. The defense forced three-and-outs on Capital’s first two possessions, and the Tigers were pumped.

“I love football,” defensive lineman Jonathan Daniels said.

“They ain’t ready for us,” another defender said.

From start to finish, that proved to the case in a season-opening 44-17 victory Saturday at Bernlohr Stadium, the site of 49-16 and 57-7 season-opening losses in 2004 and 2006.

Three defensive backs picked off passes — Victor Banjo, Jamaal Everett and Springfield grad Karlos Marshall — and all of them had to make athletic plays to do so.

Defensive linemen Jonathan Daniels, a South grad, and Erick Collins, another Springfield grad, also recovered fumbles, and it looked for a second that Daniels might return his all the way for a score.

Despite two second-half touchdown drives by Capital, everyone on the defense went home happy. The Tigers held Capital quarterback Ryan Kremchek to 12-of-28 passing for 77 yards.

“It was definitely a good awakening for our season,” said cornerback Jamaal Everett, a three-year starter. “We kind of had an up-and-down camp. We really wanted to do well today and play fast and get it going early. I’m happy with the victory.”

Stars of the game

Since 2010, it would have been easy to predict that quarterback Reed Florence and receiver Brendon Cunningham, both juniors, would lead the offense in 2012. It’s just one game, but that’s exactly what happened Saturday.

Florence threw for 320 yards, and Cunningham, a major part of the passing game since his freshman season, caught five balls for 102 yards.

Sophomore Desi Kirkman, making his first start, also had a big game with three catches for 73 yards.

The running game showed flashes of ability with three new faces splitting carries. Freshman Jimmy Dehnke led the way with 17 rushes for 67 yards. Will Stocker (7 rushes, 23 yards) started the game and then split time with Dehnke until the second quarter when JaVanh Sanders (16 rushes, 45 yards) started getting time.

Linebacker Evan Killilea led the defense with nine tackles and had the team’s only sack. Linebacker Nick Gibson had seven tackles.