The Oberlin football team put together an impressive offensive display on Saturday, Nov. 4, breaking seven school records in its 56-42 triumph over the Kenyon College Lords. The win moves the Yeomen to 5-4 overall and 4-2 in the North Coast Athletic Conference.

Head Coach Jeff Ramsey put it simply: “It was a record-setting day.”

The offensive line, consisting of juniors Caleb Buck, Mark Miller, Tony Miller, Justin Catalano; sophomore Max Roessler; and first-year Mike Koelsch, dominated the line of scrimmage all day.

Sophomore quarterback Greg Mangan commented on his teammates’ effective play, saying, “The offensive line played like a well-oiled machine; [the players] were crisp, sharp and very physical from the first snap to the last. [They] have really come together as a group, and they’re fun to watch. They opened up big holes for the backs and gave me all day to throw.”

As a team, the offense totaled 590 yards, making it the second best game for total yardage in the school’s history. The Yeomen also broke the school record for total offense in a season with 3,416 yards, eclipsing the old mark by 21 yards, with one more game to play.

While Kenyon suited almost 70 players to Oberlin’s 38, it was obvious the game was not about quantity of players but quality of skill.

The Yeomen made their presence known from the first quarter, outscoring the Lords 20-14. Mangan connected with junior wide receiver Cassius Harris for a 44-yard pass that put Oberlin on the board. Minutes later, Mangan found an open, junior co-captain and wide receiver Chris Schubert, and connected for a 17-yard touchdown.

The artificial turf surface at McBride Field appeared lucky for Schubert. The first team all-conference selection from last year set the new Oberlin career record high kickoff return yardage against Kenyon. He caught four passes for 43 yards and returned four kicks for 64 yards.

In the first quarter, two points came from senior Mike Tomlinson from extra-point conversions. By the time the game ended Tomlinson added four more points. He ended up tying the record for extra-points in a single game.

And the Yeomen picked up one more touchdown before the second quarter from sophomore running back RV Carroll.

Carroll went on to score four of the next five touchdowns in the last three quarters. He was responsible for five of the seven records set on Saturday. His 336-yard rushing was the highest ever by a Yeomen. Carroll also shattered the record for single season rushing yardage with 1,262, besting a 25 year-old mark by Rob Stevenson set in 1981. Carroll also had the most rushing touchdowns in a game and a single season in OC football history. His five touchdowns (30 points) earned him the single game record for most points scored in a game.

With Harris scoring two touchdowns and Carroll scoring five, the team reached 35 touchdowns on the season. The last time they hit this mark was 1950.

Going into the game, Ramsey was aware that Kenyon was going to score some points; however, he was confident that the defense was going to do their job. Junior defensive back Chase Palmer led the way with two interceptions and eight tackles. Defensive backs Clayton Thurmer and R.J. Parker both had 12 tackles each, while sophomore defensive back LaKristopher Devant had 11.

“It was a fun game to coach. We knew that the Kenyon offense was going to score,” said Ramsey. “But our defense took the lead and held it.”

Mangan summed up the game. “We won this game because we played like a team on both sides of the ball. When things didn’t go right for the offense or defense the other side picked them up. The defense forced big turnovers and the offense did a solid job of capitalizing on them and putting up points.”

The team closes their excellent season with an NCAC match up against Allegheny’s Gators on Saturday, Nov. 11 at Allegheny.