Oberlin, Ohio – The Oberlin College football team put forth a strong performance in front of a large Homecoming crowd on Saturday afternoon but it wasn't enough as Wittenberg University left town with a 44-27 win over the Yeomen to sour the Senior Day celebration.
 
Prior to kickoff, the Yeomen honored seniors Kobe Brooks, Christian Arnold, Chandler Laird, Zarek Bratschi, and Yanni Sarrimanolis.  Arnold led the seniors' efforts with 75 yards receiving and 42 kick return yards to go along with an interception on defense. Brooks finished with 70 yards on the ground and a touchdown.
 
Junior quarterback Chris Allen Jr. accounted for two scores, throwing for one, and rushing for another as he went 19-of-33 passing for 229 yards and one interception to accompany his 34 yards on the ground.
 
On Oberlin's second drive of the game they marched 79 yards on 16 plays, milking away 9:17 off the clock but ended up with nothing to show for it as a half-back pass from the 7-yardline by Brooks was intercepted in the end zone.
 
After a scoreless first quarter, the Yeomen would find themselves down 14-0 midway through the second but would then cut the deficit in half with an 8-play, 89-yard march that ended with Brian Colarusso tip-toeing the sidelines for a 13-yard TD. The junior from Glenshaw, Pennsylvania, finished with a team-high 77 yards on four catches.
 
Unfortunately, the Tigers answered right back to carry a 21-7 lead into the halftime intermission.
 
It was a wild third quarter as both teams scored four times in the period – the first coming in dramatic fashion for the Yeomen as David Harris stepped in front of a Collin Brown pass and raced down the near sideline for a 68-yard interception return for a touchdown. However, a Yeomen taunting call resulted in the point-after attempt being taken from 35 yards out and it was no good.
 
After another quick 3-and-out by the Yeomen defense, Oberlin would go down and tie the game at 21-21 with 7:25 left in the third quarter as Brooks snuck in from a yard out to finish off a 7-play, 64-yard drive.
 
Oberlin's defense would continue to come up big as Kason Sunderland would halt another potential scoring drive for the Tigers as he slipped underneath a slant route near the goal line to give the ball back to the offense. Unfortunately, two plays later Brooks was tackled in the end zone for a safety to put the Tigers back out in front by a pair at 23-21.
 
The ensuing Wittenberg drive would again end with the ball in the hands of a Yeomen defender as Arnold recorded his fourth-career INT in the end zone. Unfortunately, Oberlin could not capitalize as Cameron Snurr picked off Allen Jr. and raced in for a 28-yard TD to push the lead out to 30-21 heading into the fourth. 
 
The final session started with Oberlin going 79 yards on 12 plays to trim the margin down to three on a 3-yard TD scramble from Allen. But once again the Yeomen failed to keep the momentum as Reed Hall returned the ensuing kickoff 88 yards for a touchdown. The Tigers would go on to add one more touchdown to leave no doubt in the eventual outcome.
 
Luca Friedman led the defense with a career-high 10 tackles while George Dowdle added six stops and a sack.
 
The Yeomen are back in action next Saturday at Hiram College. The opening kickoff is set for 1 p.m.