Box Score

Oberlin, Ohio – It was an old fashion shootout at Savage Stadium on Saturday afternoon, but when the dust settled the Oberlin College football team found themselves on the wrong end of a 48-36 decision against the Case Western Reserve Spartans.

The two teams combined for 65 points in the first half alone and amassed a total of 915 yards off offense on the day. The Yeomen did a good amount of damage on the ground, racking up 253 yards on 37 attempts.

After missing last week's game against Wittenberg, sophomore quarterback Josh Mandel returned to the line-up and threw for 212 yards and two touchdowns, while completing 19-of-36 attempts. The Plantation, Florida, native also rushed for a career-high 102 yards on 14 carries.

The first quarter action was non-stop and one could hardly have a second to breathe watching the fast-paced high-powered offensives of both teams. The Yeomen struck first on a 23-yard TD run by Drew Mixter as he went off tackle left side and cut it back into the middle of the field on his way to paydirt.

The Spartans needed just three plays and 43 seconds to get back to even. The drive by Case Western was one of five scoring drives that lasted 1:35 or less.

Freshman Moses Richardson capped off an 11-play, 62-yard drive with his first career touchdown on a 1-yard plunge into the end zone. After yet another quick scoring drive by the Spartans, Oberlin would take a 21-14 lead at the end of the period as Adam Lowther took an inside shovel pass from Mandel and scampered 55 yards for the score.

The Spartans would respond with three straight touchdowns to take a 35-21 lead, but with 2:40 left in the opening half, OC would get back within eight, 35-27, as Mandel connected with Adam Niec on an inside screen from seven-yards out.

At the end of the half the Yeomen were driving, but a sack by Case Western – and with the clock running down and no timeouts left for Oberlin – it appeared that the half would end without any Oberlin points. However, OC was able to run the field goal unit on the field for an attempt with just one second on the clock. The kick was good, but the Yeomen got flagged for too many men on the field. However, since Zach Richard's try from 36-yards out was successful it forced the Spartans to accept the penalty which in turn left the Yeomen with another try at the kick with no time on the clock. Richard was true once more on the 41-yard attempt to make it a 35-30 Spartans advantage at the break.

The third quarter woes for the Yeomen continued as the offense went stagnant, while the Spartans would build their lead to 45-30.

Following another Sam Coffey field goal in the early part of the fourth quarter, the Yeomen continued to battle, as Mandel would rip off a 59-yard TD run through the Case defense to give the Yeomen hope – down just 12 with 10:19 left to play.

Unfortunately, the final two Yeomen drives would stall out to allow the Spartans to leave town with the win.

David Kalgren and Dane Stritt led the Yeomen defense with 11.5 tackles each, while Clay Eaton was also a menace with four sacks and one forced fumble. The four sacks tie Chris Pisani for second best single-game total in school history as Pisani wrapped up the Hiram QB four times in 2005.

The Yeomen will now embark a tough two-game road trip that will first take them to Wabash College next Saturday, before making the trek to Washington University in St. Louis the following week.