“I thought both defenses played really well,” said Wittenberg coach Joe Fincham. “It was a hard-fought game. We just didn’t make enough plays to win.”
Wittenberg fell to 2-3 and 2-2 in the NCAC. DePauw improved to 4-1 and remained undefeated in the NCAC.
“(DePauw) played hard,” Fincham said. “It seems things maybe weren’t going great in the first half either. They managed to keep themselves together and made enough plays to win the ball game.”
Wittenberg took a 7-0 lead into the locker room after Bryce Anderson scored on a 3-yard run with about 13 minutes remaining in the second quarter.
DePauw drove into Wittenberg territory multiple times in the second half, but weren’t able to put points on the board until Joe Sullivan hit a 33-yard field goal with 12 minutes remaining to make it 7-3.
Two plays later, DePauw’s Luke Marsh intercepted Wittenberg quarterback Bobby Froehlich’s pass and returned it 30 yards for a touchdown to give DePauw a 10-7 lead.
After a three-and-out by Wittenberg, DePauw drove to the 20-yard-line. Joe Sullivan’s 37-yard attempt was blocked by Anthony Pedro and fell into the arms of Michael Fiessinger, who returned it 80 yards for a TD to give Wittenberg a 14-10 lead with 4:47 remaining.
On its ensuing possession, DePauw drove 73 yards on nine plays, scoring on Baumgartner’s 1-yard to take the lead for good.
Wittenberg got the ball back with two minutes remaining and drove to their own 43, but turned the ball over on downs.
Wittenberg travels to Oberlin (0-6, 0-5) next week. The Yeomen lost 49-20 at Wabash on Saturday.
“(The defense) just got tired at the end,” Fincham said. “I don’t know how many snaps they took in the second half. Offensively, we couldn’t save them. You win as a team and lose as a team and move on to next week.”
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