It was a challenging day for the Kenyon College football team.
Despite a strong second half, the Lords suffered a decisive defeat at the hands of the Ohio Wesleyan University Battling Bishops last weekend, 52-17.
Things started off slow for the Lords. The Battling Bishops kicked a field goal on their first drive and went into cruise control from there. With the Lords unable to get going offensively, Ohio Wesleyan scored three touchdowns before the end of the first quarter, giving the Bishops a commanding 24-0 advantage after one.
Kenyon got on the board at the beginning of the second quarter after kicker Rocco Danese slotted the ball through the uprights from 32 yards out. The Battling Bishops responded quickly, scoring immediately on a kickoff return touchdown by Kenny Streb. The connection between quarterback Kofi Ansah-Tutu and receiver Zane Ries was also strong for Ohio Wesleyan, with that connection resulting in a 45-3 Lords deficit going into halftime.
Staring down an enormous margin, the Lords found new life in the third quarter. They started out with a 19-play drive, taking almost 10 minutes to methodically work themselves down the field. The drive ended when quarterback A.J. Allen found Justin Bosch in the end zone for the first Kenyon touchdown of the day.
The Lords added another seven points when Allen connected with Andrew Schnarre in the middle of the fourth quarter. Schnarre hauled in a huge 30-yard reception earlier in the drive to help Kenyon march down the field and was rewarded with the score. In the second half, the Lords outscored the Battling Bishops 14-7. However, it was not enough to make up for the halftime disadvantage.
With the loss, the Lords dropped to 2-7 on the season. Their final game of the season is today, against the Hiram College Terriers at home, with kickoff at 1 p.m.
