Football Team Chews Up Denison Big Red, 33-20
by Colin Smith

On Saturday the Oberlin College football team allayed any fears of a long losing streak, playing a solid four quarters for a win in their final home game of the season. The Yeomen dominated the Denison Big Red defensively and the offense posted an impressive 33 points as Oberlin won 33-20.
With the win, the Yeomen improved their record to 2-7 and moved into a tie for sixth in the conference with a 2-4 conference record. After going three years without a win, Oberlin now has its first multiple-win season since going 4-6 in 1989.
“Two in one year is a wonderful thing,” Head Coach Jeff Ramsey said. “It gives us a rallying point. It gives us momentum.”
For seven seniors — defensive lineman Gary Arbuckle, linebacker Sam Hobi, punter Bob Montag, receiver Chad Raver, defensive back Tim Salazar, defensive back David Smolev and defensive lineman Matt Usher — it was their final college home game. The seven were recognized for their hard work and effort before the game and they made their presence felt on the field as well.
Denison received the ball to open the game and in a preview of things to come, could do nothing with it. Sophomore lineman Jesus Juarez nailed Denison quarterback Greg Neuendorf on third and nine for the first of 10 Yeomen sacks in the game.
Oberlin, under junior quarterback Chris Moffatt, was similarly unable to move the ball, going three and out, and with 7:18 to go in the first quarter it was still scoreless.
But then Neuendorf began to have success against the Yeomen defense, hitting passes of five, 12 and six yards, before unleashing the big pass for a 62-yard gain. Several plays later he rushed into the end zone from the one-yard line. The extra point put Denison up 7-0 with two and half minutes left in the first.
The Big Red drive sparked the Yeomen’s own offense, though. First-year Zach Lewis got some excellent blocks on the kickoff and returned it 29 yards to the Oberlin 41. Junior receiver Ricky Valenzuela made a jumping catch in tight coverage for 16 and first-year running back Travis Oman had his first big gain of the day, rushing for 11 yards to bring the quarter to a close.
Three plays into the second, first-year receiver Scott Barker, in a replay of the previous week, made a diving catch of a Moffatt pass in the corner of the end zone, putting Oberlin on the board. Steve Willever’s kick, battling the wind, went wide and the Yeomen trailed 7-6.
Following this drive, Yeomen suffered their only serious defensive breakdown of the game, allowing Neuendorf to complete three consecutive mid-range passes, the last to a wide-open receiver in the end zone. Denison’s kick went wide as well, but they had the lead 13-7.
“The thing I felt had changed [from previous games],” Salazar said, “was the belief. At that point, even though the defense had given up a couple scores, no one gave up.”
Instead, Moffatt came out on the next series and found a wide-open Valenzuela on the second play. Valenzuela, already out ahead of the defense, had nothing but green ahead of him as he took it to the end zone. Willever adjusted to the wind and nailed the point after for a 13-all tie.
That’s when the Yeomen defense took over, keeping Neuendorf constantly under pressure and keeping his receivers well covered. Junior lineman Steve Barlow and Hobi each had sacks on the following drive — a minus 11-yard drive for the Big Red.
With two passing touchdowns on the board, Oman began grinding out the yards on the ground, rushing for 45 on four plays.
“Once he got a feel, that’s when he started gobbling up the yards,” Ramsey said.
Moffatt capped the drive by throwing his third touchdown pass of the game, 28-yards to Barker, and the Yeomen took a 20-13 lead into halftime.
Oberlin’s offense struggled through the third quarter, unable to come up with a first down, leaving Denison plenty of opportunity to even the score.
Denison rushed on its first three plays of the third, picking up a first down, and it began to look like they might have some success on the ground. Neuendorf quickly returned to the passing game, though, and took a sack.
The defense picked up steam as it went along, stopping Denison on every drive despite spending more than 10 minutes on the field in the third quarter.
“We were able to take advantage of some of our strengths,” Salazar said of the team’s pass defense.
Less than two minutes into the fourth the defense gave the offense the jump-start it needed to put the game away. On the first play of a drive, sophomore defensive back George Parr picked off a Neuendorf pass and returned it to the Denison 44. On the very next play, Oberlin’s offensive line opened up a hole for Oman, who took advantage, carrying the ball 35 yards. A play later he fought his way into the end zone for a 6-yard touchdown. Willever missed the point after, but the Yeomen led 26-13, all the scoring they would need.
The Yeomen would later add another touchdown after a fumble recovery by Smolev set up a 28-yard touchdown pass to Lewis.
The defense, looking only to prevent a big play, allowed several passes underneath that led to the Big Red’s final score, but with less than two minutes remaining.
Moffatt was only nine of 23 passing, but he accumulated 212 yards and threw for four touchdowns.
“It was a good performance for Chris, especially after not playing a lot,” Ramsey said. “Chris was ready.”
Oman outdid his exceptional performance against Kenyon by rushing for a net 216 yards against Denison.
“I think this game was our best offensive performance,” Barker said. “We did well in both facets of the offensive game, and the ‘D’ just showed up.”
With 82 yards in sacks, the Yeomen defense set a school record for fewest rushing yards allowed, with minus 20. Hobi led the charge with five sacks, while Barlow had three, and Smolev, Juarez and first-year Vinnie Hachigian had one each.
Montag had another great day punting, averaging over 40 yards per punt. His longest was 61 yards, and he pinned three inside the 20.
The Yeomen will wrap up their season on the road against Earlham College this Saturday, in a game that was originally scheduled for Sept. 15. The game was cancelled in the wake of the Sept. 11 tragedy.
Oberlin and Earlham have identical conference records at 2-4, but the Quakers are 3-6 overall. Against common opponents Denison, Hiram, Kenyon, Ohio Wesleyan and Wabash, both teams are 2-3.
Earlham, a largely veteran team, has been underachieving this year.
“I think they have troubles as a team,” Ramsey said. “I feel we’re a more cohesive unit. We’re on a roll. We’re finding ways to win.”
A win would make the Yeomen 3-7 and put them in fifth place in the conference after years of cellar dwelling.
“The goal is to get a lot of momentum going into the off-season,” Salazar said, “and set a presence in the conference.”


November 16
November 30

site designed and maintained by jon macdonald and ben alschuler :::