Football gets first shut-out

The Oberlin Crimson Thunder froze against the Earlham College Quakers last Saturday, losing 45-0.

It was Oberlin's final home game, and the players were hoping for a win to stop their Division III high losing streak at 38.

"We'd like to see a victory for the seniors," said junior Chris Lavin. Unfortunately, the Thunder were not able to penetrate the Earlham offense, and crumbled to defeat.

"We practiced well all week," Lavin said, "but it's like we didn't even show up [for the game]." This was the first game of the season that Oberlin did not score at least one touchdown. The scores were something that made this year different from the last. "We had little hope [for scoring] last year," Lavin said.

Playing on a snow-dusted field, the Crimson Thunder were up against the team ranked closest to them according to NCAC standings. The eighth-place Quakers were 1-5 in NCAC games going into their match against Oberlin.

The Quakers hit hard and quickly, scoring three touchdowns in the first quarter of the game. Failing to be damaged by Oberlin defense, Earlham continued to score four more touchdowns for a total of seven during the four quarters.

In a stunned silence, the Oberlin players took in the game against Earlham. "The locker room was quiet [after the game]," Lavin said. "Not many of us were satisfied [with the game]."

After a relatively successful and progressive game against the College of Wooster, especially for the defense, the Thunder had building blocks for the weeks ahead. "Dominating Wooster was a big step forward," said linebacker Terry Halter. "[Playing Earlham] was a big step back. We felt very confident playing Wooster, [defensively] it was as if we couldn't do anything wrong."

Looking back on the game, Oberlin players are bewildered as to what happened in the game. "I thought we were ready to play," said Halter, "I guess we weren't." This was the final game at Oberlin's Dill Field for the handful of graduating seniors, including Halter.

Halter leads the team in defensive tackles with 99 tackles for the season. This is the second time Halter has led the team in tackles, the first wastwo years ago as Halter was away from Oberlin last year. One of a handful of players who has played football all four of his years at Oberlin, Halter sees his motivation for sticking with the football program very much based on the team members, as well as a love for the game.

Other seniors for the Oberlin Crimson Thunder this season are wide receiver Rob Bettman, fullback Michael Brown and running back John Laird. Laird and Brown have been the team's leading rushers with 219 and 194 yards rushing, respectively.

The final game of the season for the Oberlin Crimson Thunder is this Saturday against the Allegheny Gators. Because of snow on the Allegheny field, the game is scheduled to be at Youngstown State University, where there is an Astroturf field.

Allegheny is ranked third among the country's Division III schools according to one poll and it's likely Oberlin's season will end winless, just like the previous three years.

Crunch: A shot from an earlier, warmer Oberlin football game (photo by Whitney Smith)