Oberlin, Ohio – Michael Picone's 61-yard interception reception return for a touchdown with 2:49 left to play stunned a large Homecoming crowd as it gave the visiting Kenyon College Lords a 12-7 victory over the Oberlin College Yeomen on Saturday afternoon at the Austin E. Knowlton Athletics Complex.
 
Trailing 6-0 into the fourth quarter, the Yeomen would finally breakthrough for their first touchdown of the season following a Lords' turnover. Von Wooding forced Jimmy Andrews to lose the ball and Jabree Hason scooped it up and returned it 11 yards to the Lords' 27-yard line. Two plays later, senior quarterback Zach Taylor connected with sophomore Brian Colarusso on a 17-yard scoring strike to tie the game and Christian Arnold would convert the PAT following 5-yard penalty to make it a 7-6 Yeomen advantage with 8:21 left play.
 
For Taylor it was a record-tying TD toss as he matched Greg Mangan (2005-08) for first all-time in school history with 48 career touchdown passes. In his first game back since week one, Taylor finished 16-of-24 for 136 yards with the one touchdown and two interceptions.
 
With the lead in hand following the score, the Yeomen defense forced a 3-and-out on Kenyon's next possession, which was capped off by a Zach Ntia sack.
 
Oberlin took over with 6:24 remaining in the game and worked some clock before the disastrous interception happened.
 
The Yeomen had one last chance on their ensuing drive as Bear Broyles came through with a clutch 9-yard reception on 4^th-and-2, but two plays later backup quarter Chris Allen Jr. was picked off by Jimmy Lane to effectively end the game.
 
The Lords only offensive touchdown of the game came with 1:06 to play in the second quarter when Thomas Merkle hit tight end Matt Jolliffe for a 2-yard TD to cap off a 7-play, 52-yard drive that took 3:41 off the clock.
 
Merkle finished 29-of-38 for 252 yards but he was sacked five times by the Yeomen, which played a large part in them holding the Lords to -40 yards rushing on 25 attempts.
 
Kobe Brooks led the Yeomen ground attack with a career-high 71 yards on 21 carries, while Brandon Davies led Oberlin pass catchers with 67 yards on five receptions.
 
Malachi Clemons had a strong day in the Oberlin secondary with 11 tackles and three pass breakups. Justin Godfrey had two sacks and seven tackles, while Jack Lesniak had 1.5 sacks in the loss.
 
Oberlin will look for its first win of the season next week at Denison University. Kickoff is set for 3 p.m.