Oberlin, Ohio - The Oberlin College football team played its final home game of 2014, falling 50-13 to the visiting Battling Bishops of Ohio Wesleyan University on Saturday afternoon at the Austin E. Knowlton Athletics Complex.
 
The Yeomen trailed by just 10 at the half, but OWU scored four third-quarter touchdowns to put the game away for good.
 
Quarterback Lucas Poggiali battled through inaccuracies throughout the game as he completed 14 of 39 attempts for 125 yards. However, he did connect twice with sophomore standout Justin Cruz for touchdowns.  After going into half with minus one yard rushing, rookie Khalil Rivers bounced back in the second half as led the Yeomen with 42 yards on 15 carries.
 
OWU wasted no time in jumping on the Yeomen early, scoring on three of their first four possessions to take a 17-0 lead after one quarter.
 
In the second quarter the Yeomen came to life and fought their way back into the game. Senior Max Schenk ripped a 69-yard punt that Kevin Herman chased down to his own 7-yard line that he ultimately muffed and Gabe Edwards was right there for the Yeomen to pick it up. It is the second week in a row Edwards has recovered a muffed punt.
 
Oberlin would take advantage of the good fortune as Poggiali found Cruz in the endzone on the very next play to put the Yeomen on the board. Unfortunately, the momentum was extremely short-lived as the Bishops responded on the first play of their ensuing drive as quarterback Dominick Orsini found Erik Wall for a 72-yard touchdown to make it 23-7 game with 7:58 left in the first half.
 
After the two teams traded punts, Oberlin put together one of its best drives of the season to cap the first half. Poggiali marched the Yeomen 76-yards on 17-plays with the last play going to Cruz on a quick slant from a yard out. The drive featured two 4^th-down conversions as Poggiali and Cruz connected for nine yards on 4^th-and-4, and he and Trace McConnell later hooked up for 10 yards on a 4^th-and-6 play. McConnell finished with two catches for a team-high 53 yards.
 
Unfortunately the Oberlin offense stalled out in the second half, totaling just 73 yards over the final 30 minutes, while the Bishops ramped things up and pulled away for the win.
 
Oberlin finished with 244 yards compared to the Bishops' 465. OWU moved to 5-4 overall and evened its mark to 4-4 in league play. Oberlin dropped to 2-7 overall and 2-6 in the NCAC.
 
Defensively, Schenk and Larry Leggett led the Yeomen with eight tackles each. Markus West had two of his four tackles go for a loss as he also recovered a fumble and registered a sack.
 
Prior to the game, Oberlin honored its senior class of Schenk, Erickson Andrews, Rory Kaip, Josh Guisler and Jake Fannin.
 
The Yeomen will conclude their season next weekend at Hiram College. The Terriers (4-5) and Yeomen will kickoff at 1 p.m.