by PRESS RELEASE PER BW
BEREA, OHIO – Baldwin Wallace University Director of Athletics Steve Thompson and Head Football Coach Jim Hilvert are pleased to announce that BW and Wittenberg University will renew their historic rivalry with a home-and-home series in 2024 and 2025.
The home-and-home series will mark the first time since the 1999 season that these two rivals have met on the gridiron. The first game in 2024 will be played in Berea and the 2025 will be played in Springfield.
“When you think about Division 3 rivalries this one is at the TOP of the list,” stated Hilvert. “We are very excited to about starting up this legendary rivalry with Wittenberg again. There have been some great battles in the past. I know BW alums will be fired up about these two historic programs playing against each other in 2024 and 2025.”
Three legendary BW coaches in Ray E. Watts, Dr. Lee Tressel and Bob Packard and 67 Yellow Jacket Athletics Alumni Association Hall of Famers have played in the series.
The Yellow Jackets and Tigers have met 42 times on the football field with the series beginning in 1896. There have been many electric games during the series, most notably the 1978 NCAA Division III Stagg Bowl and the 1982 Ohio Athletic Conference game that aired on CBS that was called by the legendary duo of John Madden and Pat Summerall.
“This is such a historic college football rivalry that I am excited to rekindle,” said Thompson. “Names like Lee and Jim Tressel, Mark Summers, Wade Massad, Larry Hoon, Paul Petrella and 61 other BW Hall of Famers, the 1978 Hall of Fame Team and countless other great Yellow Jacket men were forged by this rivalry, and I am excited another great generation of Yellow Jackets will have this experience. ”
Wittenberg leads the all-time series with a mark of 21-20-1, including winning the last meeting in 1999 by a final score of 26-21. The last BW victory came in 1992 when the Yellow Jackets shutout the Tigers by a final score of 20-0. The Tigers won the first two meetings in 1896 and 1917. The two teams would not meet again until 1942 when the Yellow Jackets shutout Wittenberg in an OAC game by a final score of 29-0.
BW finished the 2021 season with an overall record of 8-2 and a 7-2 mark in the OAC. The Yellow Jackets were ranked nationally as high as 20th in the D3football.com and 21st in the American Football Coaches Association polls.
