Hiram, Ohio - The Oberlin College football team gutted out a 31-28 victory at Hiram College on Saturday afternoon, marking their first win of the season. 

The victory was not only the first for Head Coach Steve Opgenorth, it snapped an 11-game slide for the Yeomen that dated back over two years as the last Oberlin triumph was against these same Terriers on October 19, 2019 when they prevailed 7-0. 

Quarterback Chris Allen Jr. accounted for 351 yards and four touchdowns. The junior from Atco, New Jersey, completed 24 of 36 passes for 247 yards and two scores to go along with a career-high 104 rushing yards and two more TDs on the ground. 

Furthermore, with the Yeomen trailing 28-24 late in the fourth quarter, Allen orchestrated the game-winning drive, covering 75-yards on 10 plays in 3:34. The final march featured a 36-yard strike to Christian Arnold. Allen's running ability also factored in as he ran for 20 yards and picked up two first downs with his legs. However, it wasn't all easy as Oberlin got deep into Hiram territory but was left with a 4th-and-5 from the 9-yard line with the game on the line. Allen would roll to his right and deliver a strike in the back corner of the end zone to Brian Colarusso for the biggest TD toss of his career. 

Hiram was left with all three timeouts and 1:03 on the clock to try and answer but the Yeomen defense came up big as the Terriers were never able to get past midfield. 

Arnold led the Yeomen pass-catchers with 79 yards on five receptions. Brandon Davies corralled five of his nine targets for 57 yards and a score, while Colarusso caught a game-high seven passes for 52 yards to accompany the go-ahead score. 

The Yeomen grabbed a 7-0 lead on their first drive of the game, covering 75 yards on 11 plays while using 5:15 of the clock. Allen Jr. capped the drive by taking a designed QB run four yards into the end zone for his second rushing touchdown of the year.  After making a big play on special teams to set up a short field on their second possession, a 4th-and-11 catch-and-run by Davies setup a 1st-and-goal for the Yeomen but Hiram's defense stood tall to force a 21-yard field goal by Sam Bingaman to make it 10-0.
 
After the Yeomen defense stepped up with a big a sack on 4th-and-13th, the Yeomen would once again take advantage of a great field position early in the second quarter as Allen Jr. found Davies streaking across the back of the end zone for a 9-yard scoring strike to extend the Yeomen advantage out to 16-0.
 
Following an Oberlin turnover, the Terriers took advantage by posting their first points of the contest. A 57-yard reception by Jarius Green set up a 1st-and-goal from the 9-yard line and then Malcolm Rogers would run it in to trim the Oberlin lead down to nine, 16-7, heading into the intermission.
 
Out of the break, a pair of big defensive miscues by the Yeomen allowed the Terriers to score on their first possession of the second half. A busted coverage in the secondary on 3rd-and-6 resulted in a 32-yard gain and three plays later quarterback Victor Campos faked a jet sweep and instead ran right down the middle of the field for a 38-yard TD to shrink the Oberlin lead down to just two.

With all the momentum on its side, Hiram would claim a 21-16 lead heading into the fourth quarter as Campos found Green in the end zone from 20 yards out to cap a 90-yard drive.

The Yeomen would reclaim the lead on their first drive of the final frame as Allen ran in from 12-yards out to make it 24-21 following a 2-point conversion catch by Davies. However, the lead was short-lived as Campos responded with a 23-yard rushing TD of his own to make it 28-24 Terriers' advantage but thankfully Allen and the Yeomen had one last rebuttal in them to pull out the victory. 

Oberlin's defense racked up nine tackles for loss, including three sacks which were recorded by Luke Rogers, Matt Cohn, Jacob Russell and Ethan Boufford with the latter two getting half a sack each. David Harris and Boufford led all tacklers with 11 stops each. 

The Yeomen are idle next week and will return to action on November 6 at DePauw University.