Finn Murray
Sejin Kim
14
Kenyon KENF 2-5 , 2-4
38
Winner Wittenberg WITF 4-3 , 4-2
Kenyon KENF
2-5 , 2-4
14
Final
38
Wittenberg WITF
4-3 , 4-2
Winner
Score By Quarters
Team 1st 2nd 3rd 4th F
KENF Kenyon 0 7 0 7 14
WITF Wittenberg 0 17 14 7 38

Game Recap: Football |

Strong second half pushes Tigers past Lords

SPRINGFIELD, Ohio -- The Kenyon College Lords football team jumped out to a good start Saturday evening and played Wittenberg University closely for two quarters. The host Tigers, however, made the right adjustments at the break, controlled second-half play and logged a 38-14 North Coast Athletic Conference win at Edwards-Maurer Field.

A scoreless first quarter came to a close with Wittenberg driving deep into Kenyon territory. The Lords defense held up, though, and forced a fourth-down situation at the two-yard line as time expired. When the second quarter started, the Tigers settled for a 19-yard field goal.

On Kenyon's ensuing possession, the Lords put together a nine-play, 61-yard scoring drive that gave them a lead. The drive started with short-yard plays, three rushes and a pass completion all of seven yards or less. On third-and-ten from the Wittenberg 30-yard line, receiver Andrew Schnarre ran a post toward the left sideline. When he broke to his left, his defender went the other way. Quarterback Ryan O'Leary made the completion to a wide-open Schnarre, who ran down the sideline for the 30-yard touchdown and a 7-3 Lords' lead.

An interception by Kenyon sophomore Jaylen Cardoso halted Wittenberg's next drive, but the Tigers bounced back, forcing a Kenyon three-and-out and then following it up with a nine-play 80-yard drive that ended with a Collin Brown 12-yard touchdown toss to Jake Saus.

O'Leary was intercepted during Kenyon's next drive and the Tigers capitalized, scoring another touchdown to take a 17-7 advantage into the intermission. This time it was Brown connecting with Gene Nobles for a 16-yard score.

When the teams returned to the field, Wittenberg took over the game by scoring touchdowns in each of its three third-quarter possessions.

Kenyon's lone answer came on a touchdown in its first possession of the fourth quarter. At that point, A.J. Allen, who entered the game as quarterback at the beginning of the second half, directed the Lords through an eight-play, 56-yard scoring drive. Allen connected on a 25-yard pass to Schnarre and then followed up with two seven-yard passes to Finn Murray. The second of those two put Kenyon in the end zone.

Overall, Kenyon had 40 rushing yards and 231 passing yards for 271 yards of total offense. Wittenberg posted 199 rushing yards, 311 passing yards and 510 yards of total offense. The Lords had just two red-zone chances and scored on one of them. Wittenberg was in the red zone seven times and scored five times.

Allen ended up going 11-of-23 for 137 yards after O'Leary went 6-of-16 for 69 yards in the first half. Both had one touchdown pass. Kenyon's top offensive weapon was Schnarre, who caught nine balls for 128 yards and a score. Murray, who hauled in the other touchdown pass, made a total of five catches for 63 yards.

For Wittenberg (4-3 overall, 4-2 NCAC), Brown ended up going 18-of-28 for 311 yards and four touchdowns. Four different receivers caught his TD passes, but Nobles and Sam Kayser were his top targets throughout the contest. Nobles finished with five catches for 149 yards and Kayser had eight catches for 103 yards.

Kenyon (2-5 overall, 2-4 NCAC) will return home and prepare for next weekend's home game, a 1 p.m. conference contest against Wabash College (5-2 overall, 4-2 NCAC).
 
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