The Oberlin College football team wrapped up the 2006 season this past weekend with a 14-35 loss at Allegheny College.

Despite the loss, the team enjoyed a very successful season. The ’06 squad improved over last season’s 3-7 overall record, 2-5 in the North Coast Athletic Conference, to finish 5-5 overall and 4-3 in conference play this year.

It was an especially bittersweet day for three senior players, co-captain and linebacker Andy Estep, punter Mike Tomlinson and defensive back John Hepp, as they finished their college football career.

Tomlinson remarked, “The reality that my career is over hasn’t fully set in yet. What I have begun to realize is that football has forced me to handle adversity as well as success.”

Sophomore quarterback Greg Mangan was disappointed to see the seniors go. “I’m sorry that we couldn’t pull out this last game, especially for the seniors who have been great teammates, and more importantly, great friends to us all, but hopefully they’ll leave with some awesome memories from this past year.”

The Allegheny Gators put seven points on the board early in the first quarter. The Yeomen tied the game early in the second and held them off until the final quarter. Using the home turf advantage, the Gators controlled the line of scrimmage.

“We knew going in that it would be a good game and we would have to bring our game. We did, but not for four quarters,” commented junior co-captain and wide receiver Chris Schubert. “We knew Allegheny was a good team, but we knew we were better. It was a fight to the end, and I am very proud of my guys because they did not give up and never will.”

The offense was led by Schubert and fellow junior wide receiver Cassius Harris. Harris caught six passes for 83 yards and put the Yeomen on the scoreboard in the second quarter. In the recent game against Kenyon College, Schubert set the Oberlin record for punt and kick return yardage. He added to his total with 88 yards in kick returns against Allegheny. In addition, he caught six passes for 92 yards and a touchdown late in the third quarter. Another notable performance on the offense came from sophomore wide receiver Michael Loll, who had four receptions for 49 yards.

On the defensive side, the Yeomen were led by a trio of juniors. Defensive back Chase Palmer stopped the Gators dead in their tracks with a game-high 15 tackles. Linebacker Geoff Sirockman had 10 tackles while defensive back junior Clayton Thurmer totaled nine tackles and an interception.

Head Coach Jeff Ramsey, reflecting on the season’s accomplishments, said, “There were moments where I thought we could have done more with what we had. We improved quite a bit winning close games and beating teams we should have…We need to learn how to win games against bigger opponents.”

The team definitely made history this year breaking 23 school records; seven of these single-season records were broken in the match-up against the Gators. The offense combined for a total 350 passing yards, making it the second best performance in Oberlin football history. Four other single-season records were broken on Saturday. The oldest record the Yeomen broke was from 1892, for total points in a season. They also broke the record for total touchdowns (37) in a season and the mark for total first downs (193). The team had an outstanding year on offense, both rushing and passing. The Yeomen set a new record for yards passing in a season (2,431) which breaks the previous mark of 2,320 (1997).

This past weekend Mangan single-handedly broke three records. He also set a new school record for single-season completion percentage, going 186 for 276 (67.5 percent) in 2006. In addition, he surpassed the season marks for passing yards (2,404) and total offensive yards (2,394).

Schubert was satisfied with breaking records but reiterated that the team should not be. “Records are made to be broken, so we are using that as motivation also. We broke a lot of records this year, but we need to break those and more next year.”

In addition, sophomore running back RV Carroll earned special recognition this past week for his tremendous season. Don Hanson’s National Football Weekly Gazette and D3football.com honored Carroll with offensive player of the week. He will be mentioned in USA Today as fourth best in rushing yards per game nationwide in Division III.

The Yeomen are already looking ahead to next season with a positive attitude. They have a large talent base returning with all 11 starters on offense and ten on defense back. Schubert says that the return of core groups on offense and defense should make for an exciting 2007 campaign. “Because of this, we have high expectations as we are playing for a NCAC Conference Championship next year. That is our goal for next season.”