Sagehens bury Crimson Thunder

After a narrow loss to Earlham, the Yeomen suffer a shocking 65-0 loss to Pomona-Pitzer

After coming within a field goal of a rare victory two weeks ago against the Earlham Quakers, the Yeomen headed into last Saturday's match-up with the Pomona-Pitzer Sagehens with renewed optimism and desire. They knew the sour taste of defeat all too well; now, more than anything, they wanted to capture that elusive win. Sadly, though, any hopes of a victory were soon squashed by the Sagehens, who dominated Oberlin throughout the game with their stingy defense and their powerful running game; Pomona went on to trounce the Yeomen by a lopsided score of 65-0.

It didn't take long for things to turn ugly. After the Yeomen gained just five yards on their unimpressive opening drive, Pomona captured possession of the ball at 14:08, deep within Oberlin territory at the 27 yard line. Soon afterward, Sagehens running back Jeremy Lim scurried past a pack of ravenous Oberlin defensemen for the score, putting Pomona up 6-0 with 13:08 remaining in the first quarter.

But on their next possession, the Yeomen took a cue from Peter Frampton and came alive. Thanks to running back Adisa Chaney, who gained 16 yards on four carries during the drive, and first-year wide receiver Cody McCoy, who completed a 33 yard pass to sophomore Chad Raver, Oberlin found itself on Pomona's two yard line with a chance to take an early 7-6 lead. Sadly, it was not to be. On third and goal, Chaney fumbled the ball. The Sagehens recovered, but the Yeomen never did, allowing nine more unanswered touchdowns and 59 points to Pomona's unstoppable offense.

While the Oberlin defense struggled throughout the afternoon to contain their opponent's powerful ground game, the Yeomen failed to launch a solid offensive attack after their second possession of the game. By the end of the fourth quarter, Chaney had run the ball 32 times for just 63 yards, averaging a measly 1.9 yards per carry. Meanwhile, first-year quarterback Chris Moffatt, who threw for 342 yards in his team's 29-27 loss to Earlham, gained only 65 yards on 10 completions against the Sagehens.

But one man's ceiling is another man's floor, a cliché that was not lost upon Lim. Against the porous Oberlin defense, he ran the ball 29 times for a net gain of 262 yards and four touchdowns, proving that life goes on even after the retirement of Barry Sanders. Meanwhile, Sagehens quarterback Teohua Sanchez delivered a strong, if not overwhelming, performance, completing 10 of 13 passes for 190 yards and one touchdown.

Despite the demoralizing loss, the Yeomen have remained confident and upbeat, determined to live for the present. "Last week was the past, and we have worked hard to put the past behind us," said sophomore tight end Bob Montag. "I can assure you the Yeomen will come out this week against Denison fired up and ready to kick some Big Red ass!"

Though Head Coach Jeff Ramsey would like to share that kind of optimism, he still expressed serious concerns about his team's performance - even against a powerhouse like Pomona. "We played a good team," he said. "Pomona has amassed 45 points in the polls. They should be ranked 29th in the country, and they have the top defense in the country. They average 429 yards a game. We actually thought we could play with them as long as we didn't make mistakes, but we did.

"We made mental errors, we missed tackles and we blew assignments on defense. We were on the two yard line when the score was 6-0, but our offense fumbled the ball. That killed us."

After watching his Yeomen sputter to its worst defeat of the season, Ramsey openly wondered whether his team was prepared to play after its loss to Earlham. "Were they ready to play?" he asked. "Maybe they weren't. They tried hard, and they put in a lot of effort, but we need to learn to rise up and perform better each week. With Earlham, we improved our team play. We had a solid defense. But this last week, we stopped moving forward. We were static."

With any luck, Oberlin will pick up the pieces this weekend at Denison, where they hope to regroup against the dreaded Big Red. The battle begins at 1:30 p.m.

Pomona takes the pomos: Try as they might, the Yeomen could not overcome Pomona's defensive machine last Saturday. They will take out their frustrations on Denison this Saturday. (photo by Brian Hodgkin)