The Oberlin Review
<< Front page Sports November 3, 2006

Oberlin Football Loses to Wittenberg 6-22

Mother Nature did not want to cooperate with OC football this past Saturday as rain, hail and high winds pummeled Dill Field. The weather made it difficult for the Yeomen in their conference match up against the Wittenberg Tigers. Unfortunately, the final outcome left the squad feeling as bad as the weather, as the Tigers prevailed 22-6.

This game marked the last home performance for three seniors: captain linebacker Andy Estep, defensive back John Hepp and kicker Michael Tomlinson.

“I’m sorry we couldn’t pull out this game for the seniors,” said sophomore quarterback Greg Mangan. “But we still have a chance to send them off the right way — we owe it to them and ourselves.”

Head Coach Jeff Ramsey explained the performance, “We didn’t play very well. We always seem to have a quarter where we just fade away. It was the first quarter this time. After that we settled in and played a better game.” The Tigers dominated the first quarter putting eight points up on the scoreboard.

Offensively, OC responded with assistance from sophomore running back R.V. Carroll, who totaled seven receptions for 39 yards and had 67 yards rushing in the game.

Coach Ramsey mentioned after the game that sophomore quarterback Greg Mangan “had a difficulty gripping the ball at times [because of the conditions.]” However, he still managed to complete 20 of his 27 pass attempts for 162 yards.

In the second and third quarter there were times when the Yeomen looked like they might rally for the win. Some momentum came from Tomlinson’s two field goal attempts. He contributed three points in the second quarter after notching a 33-yard attempt and added another field goal in the third with a successful 40-yard field goal.

Wittenberg secured the victory after the final touchdown of the game late in the third quarter. Mangan explains, “We felt like we were very capable of beating this team. However, it was the little mistakes here and there that came back to haunt us.”

The defense played a solid game after giving up some key points early in the first quarter. They were led by juniors Clayton Thurmer, Chris Pisani and Chase Palmer. Pisani had two sacks for 11 yards and now has a total of 19 sacks this season. This surpassed the team’s previous record of 18 set by Sam Hobi in 2000. Palmer had a game high 13 tackles and Thurmer followed close behind with ten.

The team will now shift their attention to their next two contests, which are away against Kenyon College and Allegheny College. According to Ramsey, “Both are very beatable teams. We are playing two good teams, [and] we must play a complete game.”


 
 
   

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