Box Score

Granville, Ohio – The Oberlin College football team dropped a 38-27 shootout at Denison University on Saturday afternoon at Piper Stadium in Granville, Ohio.

The Yeomen had four different players throw at least two passes in the game as normal starter Josh Mandel left early on in the contest with an injury. The impressive part was that the Yeomen still threw for 296 yards and four touchdowns in the setback.

The ground game was equally impressive with 188 total yards, led by 74 from senior Drew Mixter on just eight carries.  He also added a 47-yard TD reception. Adam Niec was the team's top pass catcher with 113 yards and two touchdowns on just five catches. All in all the Yeomen outgained Denison 484-470.

Oberlin got on the board first as Mandel capped off a 4-play, 39-yard drive with a four-yard TD toss to Robin Witjes with 9:43 left in the first quarter.

The Big Red offense was stagnant out of the gates as the Yeomen defense forced them to punt on their first three possessions before David Kalgren came away with an interception on their fourth drive. However, they were finally able to break out of it by scoring touchdowns on their next three drives leading into halftime.

Trailing 21-7 with just 1:19 remaining in the opening half, the Yeomen used just three plays to make it a one-score game. Mixter started the drive with a 47-yard scamper and two plays later Witjes threw a 28-yard TD pass down the seam to Niec.

The Big Red would add a field goal in the third and two scores early in the fourth to claim a 38-14 lead.

However, the Yeomen continued to fight and responded with a quick score. Capping a 4-play, 61-yard drive that took just 56 seconds, was a 32-yard TD toss from Cory Kidd to Niec on a gadget play drawn up by offensive coordinator Alan Estep.

On the next Yeomen possession, they would need just three plays to cover 93 yards. A 37-yard pass play from Joe Cook to Niec got them some breathing room and just one play later Estep went into the bag of tricks once again as Kidd took a lateral from Cook and then threw ball down field to Mixter for a 47-yard score.

Trailing by two scores, 38-27, with 2:48 left to play Oberlin still had life as Kirby Livingston forced a fumble that was scooped up by Jake Kennedy at the Denison 30-yardline. Unfortunately, just two plays later the Yeomen gave the ball right back as Cook coughed it up on a running play which effectively ended any chance of a comeback.

With the loss the Yeomen fell to 2-6 overall and 1-3 in the NCAC. The Big Red improved to 4-5 and 3-2 in the league.

Oberlin will look to get back on track next week when it travels south to take on Ohio Wesleyan at 1 p.m.