Box Score

Granville, Ohio – Despite running 20 more offensive plays and having an advantage of 109 yards in total offense, the Oberlin College football team found itself on the wrong side of a, 27-14, loss at Denison University on Saturday afternoon.
 
The Yeomen racked up 401 yards of total offense on 77 plays, had a 19-14 edge in first downs and won the time of possession.
 
Sophomore quarterback Lucas Poggiali threw for a career-high 293 yards on 19-of-38 passing to go along with two touchdowns and two interceptions.  Classmate Blake Buckhannon was the beneficiary of 143 of those yards, which he accumulated on six catches. Fifth-year senior Adam Niec also had his best game of the season with 93 yards on seven catches.
 
The Yeomen piled up over 100 yards on the ground, finishing with 108 as a team. Senior Moses Richardson led the charge with 60 yards on 19 carries.  
 
The game could have not started any better for the Yeomen as on the second play from scrimmage, Poggiali hooked up with Buckhannon for a touchdown on a 75-yard catch-and-run.
 
On the ensuing Denison drive, the Big Red caught a break as Gabe Edwards forced quarterback Brandon Sklenar to fumble at the 2-yardline following a 23-yard run, but Big Red lineman Matt Cochran fell on the ball in the end zone for a Denison touchdown.
 
Early in the second quarter the Big Red would finish off an 8-play, 44-yard drive on a 3-yard TD run by Colin Morris. However, they missed the point-after attempt to keep the margin at six, 13-7.
 
After a few stalled drives by both teams, the Big Red would extend their lead to 20-7 as Sklenar snuck into the end zone from a yard out.
 
With the first half coming to a close, the Yeomen had a golden opportunity for points, but let it slip away. With a 2^nd-and-goal from the Denison 2-yardline they were flagged for a false start and then Poggiali was sacked on third down. Erickson Andrews trotted out for a 30-yard field goal attempt that hit off the left upright to allow Denison to go into the break with a 20-7 lead.
 
The Yeomen were finally able to put a drive together on their second possession of the third quarter. A 20-yard completion to Niec on 4^th-and-3 from the Denison 37-yardline put the Yeomen in the red zone. Two plays later Poggiali would find rookie Justin Cruz from 15-yards out to make it a 20-14 game. It was the freshman's first TD catch of his career.
 
Unfortunately for the Yeomen the Big Red would take advantage of good field position to extend its lead back out to 13. They needed just three plays to cover 35 yards to score another TD.
 
Down two scores with 11:05 left to play, Poggiali orchestrated a 14-play drive, but he was ultimately intercepted in the end zone by Lucas Romick.
 
The Yeomen had one last chance taking over with 2:24 left to play, but Poggiali was intercepted once more.
 
Senior Kyle Kessler led the Yeomen defense with 13 tackles, marking his fourth double-digit performance of the season.
 
Oberlin, which fell to 2-6 overall and 1-6 in the NCAC, travels to Ohio Wesleyan next Saturday for a 1 p.m. kickoff.