September 23, 2006 -- To those who arrived late and missed the first half of today's football game between Oberlin and Washington and Jefferson, there would be little doubt as to who was controlling the game. The Yeomen out-scored the Presidents, ranked #30 in Division III, 13-7 in the second half. Unfortunately for the Yeomen, though, the scoreboard read 26-0 in favor of Washington and Jefferson heading into the third quarter of play. The Presidents' lead was just too much for host Oberlin to overcome, as the visitors earned a 33-13 non-conference win at Dill Field. With the defeat, Oberlin's record falls to 1-2 overall, while Washington and Jefferson improves to 3-1.

Oberlin entered today's contest ranked 11th in the country in total yards per game. Today, though, the Presidents were the winners in yardage, gaining 456 total yards on offense, while Oberlin put together 257 yards of its own. The Yeomen couldn't find an answer for W&J running back Ryan Mendel, who rushed for 192 yards and two touchdowns on 24 carries.

Mendel got the Presidents' offense rolling early as he sprinted 47 yards for a score with 8:32 remaining in the first period to give his team a 7-0 advantage. After a 50-yard touchdown pass from quarterback Bobby Swallow to Peter Briggs with 5:52 left in the opening period, Mendel scored again on a two-yard run with 12:59 remaining in the first half to give W&J a 19-0 lead. Tom McCafferty caught a 10-yard pass from Swallow with only 32 seconds left in the first half to give the Presidents a 26-0 lead heading into the locker room.

W&J's control of the game ended after McCafferty's score; however, the visitors' lead was enough to allow them to coast to the win. Oberlin junior wide receiver Chris Schubert certainly didn't make things easy for the Presidents in the second half, though. With 12:08 left in the third quarter, the shifty Schubert utilized his speed and excellent down-field blocking by the Yeomen to return a W&J punt for 77 yards and a score.

With the Yeomen trailing 7-26, Swallow ended a seven-play, 50-yard drive by running for a nine-yard touchdown, giving his team a 33-7 lead with 13:05 left in the game. Sophomore quarterback Greg Mangan capped an efficient six-play, 65-yard drive by throwing a three-yard touchdown pass to Schubert with 10:21 left in the game, making the score 13-33.

For the game, Schubert led Oberlin's receivers with five catches for 57 yards and a score. The local product also returned three punts for 94 yards and a touchdown. Classmate Cassius Harris had a solid game as well, hauling in four passes for 78 yards. In addition to Schubert's punt return, perhaps the highlight of the day for the Yeomen was a catch by Harris with 6:30 left in the fourth quarter. On the play, Mangan did an excellent job of avoiding a heavy W&J pass rush and connected with Harris 37 yards down-field, an exciting catch that Harris had to bring in with one hand and over two defenders.

Mangan was certainly efficient this afternoon, completing 21 of 33 passes for 255 yards and a touchdown. Sophomore wide receiver Mike Loll also connected with Mangan four times for 60 yards.

On the defensive side of the ball, Oberlin was paced by junior defensive backs Chase Palmer and Clayton Thurmer. Palmer had a game-high eight tackles, including four solos, while Thurmer had six tackles and also recovered a Washington and Jefferson fumble. Junior defensive lineman Chris Pisani had 4.5 tackles and one sack, while senior co-captain Andy Estep had six tackles and sophomore Zach Warner collected 6.5 tackles and half of a sack.

The Presidents were led today by Mendel and Swallow. Swallow completed eight of his 14 pass attempts for 149 yards and two scores.

Oberlin will open North Coast Athletic Conference play next Saturday in an away contest at Hiram College. Game-time with the Terriers is slated for 2:00 p.m.

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