Yeomen get two TDs, little else vs. Kenyon

Football coach Pete Peterson called his team's 46-13 loss Saturday against Kenyon the ugliest of the Yeomen's season thus far.

"That's what you saw Saturday, an ugly game," Peterson said.

But it wasn't without its bright spots. Sophomore receiver Felix Brooks-Church had 11 receptions for 128 yards, making him the conference's leading receiver.

The lanky Brooks-Church also scored his first Oberlin touchdown in the game, a reception from 12 yards out. "It was my first touchdown of the season, but there will be many more," Brooks-Church said.

Even the passing game, in which junior quarterback James Parker completed 16 of 27 passes for 182 yards and two touchdowns, didn't satisfy Peterson. "We're not passing all that great either," Peterson said. "There's so much more we could be doing."

The receivers, Peterson said, could be the most talented unit on the team, but for them to be more effective, Parker needs to throw the ball to more of them - and throw the ball more accurately.

The passing game for Oberlin is moving the ball better than the running game. The workhorse back, first-year John Laird, carried the ball 21 times against the Lords for only 31 yards. In contrast, Kenyon's top back, Derrick Johnson carried the ball 22 times for 166 yards.

Oberlin's offense had the ball a lot, running 71 plays from scrimmage compared to Kenyon's 57. But Oberlin averaged just 3.4 yards per play, three yards less per attempt than Kenyon.

Kenyon rolled up 366 yards to Oberlin's 244.

Telling as those stats may seem to some, they don't say much to Peterson. "I don't count all that stuff," he said. "There's only one stat I care about [the score]. All the others are just for newspapers and numbers junkies."

The scoreboard at the end of the first quarter showed 19 points for Kenyon and none for Oberlin. It was the third game of the season and the third time Oberlin has faced an early three-touchdown deficit.

"When you've got a small team, it's tough to make that transition from practice speed to game speed," Peterson said. "That's coaching."

Coaching this week is back-to-basics for the Yeomen. This weekend, the team has a bye and an extra week to prepare for a game Oct. 5 at powerhouse Wittenberg University.

There's some strategy work, but most of the work is on fundamentals. "It doesn't do well to have a great game plan if you can't block and tackle," Peterson said.

Up, up and away: Top: Quarterback-punter James Parker punted the ball seven times against Kenyon for an average of about 31 yards per boot.

Boys on the side: Middle, bottom: With around 45 players, Kenyon's football team is one of the smallest Oberlin will face this year. But the number of players on the sideline is still more then the number Oberlin, with 33 players in all, has. (photos by Christina Rudden)