Wittenberg becomes second D-III program to reach 800 victories

In 1999, Wittenberg beat Ohio Wesleyan 14-0 to become the 23rd school overall and first school from a lower division to win 600 games. The 700th victory came 12 years later with a 45-28 victory against Capital in 2011.

On Saturday, Wittenberg (1-1) reached its latest milestone, notching its 800th victory by beating Howard Payne 36-29 at Edwards-Maurer Field.

“It’s awesome,” said coach Jim Collins, who was a senior and the team MVP in 1987 when Wittenberg won its 500th game. “To be a part of it as a graduate and as the head football coach, it’s an honor. It’s a great feeling. It really says a lot, not just about No. 800 but the 799 that came before it and the people that put in the sweat and tears to get those 799.”

There weren’t any tears in Wittenberg’s home opener but plenty of sweat, especially in the fourth quarter as Howard Payne trimmed a 36-15 deficit to 36-29 with two touchdowns in a three-minute stretch.

Wittenberg led the entire game but almost faced a situation where Howard Payne would have had a chance to drive for the tying score. Instead, a muffed punt halted Howard Payne’s momentum with 2 minutes, 41 seconds to play.

“We’ve got to keep going until the game’s over, to be honest with you,” defensive lineman Eli Rennick said. “You can’t just give up and feel comfortable. We’ve got to keep our foot on the pedal.”

Wittenberg built its lead after a slow start on offense. It took a 3-0 lead on its second drive, but that was its only score on its first six drives. Howard Payne, a school from Texas playing Wittenberg for the first time, got off to an even worse start, failing to score on all seven of its possessions in the first half.

Wittenberg finally found the end zone when Max Milton threw a 35-yard touchdown pass to Eric Rasheed with 40 seconds left in the first half. After a missed extra point, Wittenberg led 9-0 at halftime.

Then on Wittenberg’s first drive of the second half, Milton threw a 58-yard touchdown pass to Rasheed, giving Wittenberg a 16-0 lead.

Milton completed 19 of 32 passes for 303 yards with three touchdowns. Rasheed caught four passes for 112 yards.

“Max got into a rhythm,” Collins said, “and Eric Rasheed made a couple big catches there. He’s a new player in the program, so that was good to see.”

Howard Payne answered the second touchdown with its first scoring drive. Blessing Ngene scored on a 5-yard run with 11:06 left in the third quarter to cut Wittenberg’s lead to 16-7.

Later in the third quarter, after an interception by Wittenberg linebacker Mario Getaw, the Tigers extended their lead to 23-7 on a 9-yard touchdown run by Christian Manville, who gained 116 yards on 29 carries.

Wittenberg’s defense gave it an even bigger cushion when Renick sacked Howard Payne quarterback Zy Gravitt, who fumbled the ball. Renick recovered the fumble and returned it for a touchdown with 5:04 left in the third. The Tigers led 29-7 at that point.

After another Howard Payne touchdown, Milton threw a 6-yard touchdown pass to Earl Pope to give Wittenberg a 21-point lead with 9:27 to play.

The Tigers needed the big lead because Milton threw an interception that was returned for a touchdown with 6:39 to play, and then Gravitt threw an 80-yard touchdown pass with 4:04 remaining, cutting Wittenberg’s lead to 36-29.

Wittenberg then hung on to become the second NCAA Division III football program to reach the 800-win mark. Mount Union was the first, reaching the milestone in 2019, and now has a record of 854-397-38.

Wittenberg is 800-375-31 in 130 seasons. It began the season with the seventh-best winning percentage in D-III history (.696).

Twelve teams at the highest level of college football, the Football Bowl Subdivision, have reached the 800-win mark. Four teams at the Football Championship Subdivision have more than 800 victories. No one in Division II has hit the milestone.

The Tigers returned to action 21 days after their season-opening 24-14 loss at Baldwin Wallace. Their game last week at Hiram was canceled when Wittenberg shut down campus because of security threats.

“I saw a lot of good things,” Collins said, “but we’ve got things to work on. We’re not a complete team. It was good to see us get a win. It was good to see us do some things that we didn’t do in Week 1. We’ve got to get better. Give them credit. They made some plays, too. That team was good on defense, and I thought they made some plays offensively.