The Oberlin Yeomen lost a tight match to the Franklin & Marshall Diplomats at Dill Field last Saturday. Led by senior quarterback Ryan Squatrito, the Yeomen got some early momentum with a 54-yard completion and a four-yard touchdown scramble on the ensuing play.

Unfortunately, the momentum was dashed when the Diplomats countered with three big plays in the first quarter, all of which ended in touchdowns. Franklin & Marshall junior quarterback Jeff Harner completed three scoring opportunities with passes of 59, 98 and 52 yards resulting in a quarter ending score of 21-7.

“We had too many big plays against us on defense,” Oberlin Head Coach Jeff Ramsey said. “If you take away those three plays in the first quarter, you’re looking at a tough ball game. There were just some basic things that we blew.”

The second quarter started off again with a look of promise when Squatrito found senior wide receiver Zach Lewis in the end zone on an eight-yard completion. This cut the score to 21-14 and put the Yeomen well within reach of the visitors.

“We had a really great start to the game offensively, but a few mistakes let the game get away from us,” sophomore defensive back Isaac Cooley said.

The mistakes continued when the Diplomats widened the gap with a rush by senior tailback Scott Stephen and a field goal attempt by senior kicker Dan Eggertsson, sending the Yeomen into the locker room suffering from a 17 point deficit.

“This was one of those games where we could have easily given up, but unlike teams from the past, we didn’t,” Ramsey said.

Franklin & Marshall completed their two final scoring opportunities in the third quarter and the beginning of the fourth quarter. Eggertsson put a 28-yard attempt through the uprights, and junior wide-out Derek Boyce caught a 36-yard touchdown pass from senior backup QB Doug Hiltner, bringing the score to 41-14, but the scoring was not over. First-year wide receiver Chris Schubert came up big for the Yeomen early in the fourrth quarter and returned a kickoff 98-yards for a touchdown and a new score of 41-21.

Unfortunately, the Yeomen were unable to score again as the clock wound down to zero. The Diplomats walked away with a 20-point victory over the Yeomen. Despite the tough loss, the Yeomen remained positive.

“I still feel we can accomplish the goals we set for ourselves this season,” Cooley said. “We just need to limit our mistakes.”

“Our team chemistry is good. We have a little rough edge, but it is small and definitely fixable through a better understanding of each other,” Ramsey said. “I asked each of the players to look at themselves in the mirror and see what we can do to help the team and be successful. Our effort is good and the players see that in each other and themselves.”

This solid team chemistry will come in handy in their next meeting. Oberlin (0-2) has no game next weekend but they host the Rose Hulman Institute of Technology (1-1) on Sept. 25 at Dill Field. Kickoff is set for 1 p.m.

“[Rose Hulman] has a scrappy, wide open attack and a tough defense, but we are going to take care of ourselves and the basics in order to win the ballgame,” Ramsey said.