Football falls to Kenyon

To most of the Oberlin student body, fall break is a chance to kick back, go home, or visit friends and relatives. The Crimson Thunder spent their fall break practicing and practicing hard. There was no relief following their 49-7 loss to Kenyon College on Oct. 16. The squad remained here throughout the break, grinding and grunting through practices on Dill Field even though they had no game last Saturday.

Certain themes present themselves over the course of a season. The Yeomen have now played seven games, and as most students ‹ be they athletes, fans or otherwise ‹ know, the team is still without a victory. One the most overbearing themes thus far is Oberlinąs inability to stop their opponentsą running game. The Lordsą game plan was simple: Make Oberlin defend the run.

"They decided to run up the gut," said sophomore wide receiver Jesse Cretaro. "They beat us to the ball and [to our player]."

"We went in with a lot of confidence. We were well prepared, poised to win," said senior Kwesi Skinner. "We made mental mistakes, and they capitalized on those mistakes."

The offense didnąt compensate either. The Thunder failed to convert on three out of four trips inside the red zone [ed. note- inside the 20-yard line). Turnovers, sacks and mental mistakes plagued the offense for much of the first half. Employing a new shotgun formation, first-year quarterback Chris Moffatt threw the ball 62 times, converting just 32 of those passes for 296 yards.

Trying to catch the Kenyon defense sleeping and thus capitalize on a few big plays, the Oberlin offense revolved predominantly around the pass. OC managed only 12 rushes, a figure that must increase if they are to win and protect the young playcaller.

"We knew that they would blitz inside the red zone," said Head Coach Jeff Ramsey. "We just couldnąt deal with it. There was some inexperience on the offense with the nuances [of the shotgun formation]. We couldnąt score inside the 20.".

Amidst the problems in the first half, there were bright spots for the Thunder. Senior Jabari Spruill went both ways for most of the game, taking 35 snaps on offense and missing just one play on the defensive side.

Though Moffatt had 62 attempts, he made good decisions and put up good numbers ‹ especially since, with a four-wideout offense, there was little protection on the line and not much time to for him to get rid of the ball.

Oberlinąs only successive scoring drive came late in the third quarter after the outcome was decided. Moffatt marched the offense down the field on a long drive that included big plays to Spruill and Cretaro. Junior running back Adisa Chaney pounded the ball over the endline from the one-yard line to put Oberlin on the board.

"It was a long day defensively, especially on third down," said Ramsey. "The defense did good things at times, but they couldnąt keep the Kenyon offense off the field."

After the game, first-year wideout Cody McCoy was diagnosed with a broken collarbone. Interestingly enough, he broke it in a game against College of Wooster the week before, meaning McCoy played almost two full games with the break. He will be out this week against Case Western Reserve University, and is questionable for the following week versus Ohio Wesleyan.

This weekąs matchup against Case hopes to be more competitive than the Kenyon game. The Spartans are 1-5 this year, and their only win came against Earlham, a team that OC just narrowly fell to 29-27 a few weeks back.

The same shotgun offense will be employed with a few personnel changes. In order to compensate for the loss of the speedy McCoy, Jabari Spruill will line up even more often at wideout. First-year Josh Shapaka will move to receiver as well in the four flanker package. Junior Geno Walker will also see increased snaps at wideout. First-year defensive back J. P. Odbert will move to running back to add speed to the backfield. With any luck, this move will not weaken an already worn defensive backfield.

The offense is aiming to make big plays, something Ramsey referred to in practice as the "high-octane offense." Ramsey plans to have the offense try to run the ball around 25 times.

"We need to establish something early, [and to have] the defense come out strong," said Cretaro. He added that the team would need "the right collective effort."

Skinner added a mention of an integral, but often too little used, part of the team: fan support. "It does help us out," he said.

The Crimson Thunder play Saturday at 1:30 p.m. on Dill Field.

Run and gun: Junior tailback Adisa Chaney and the rest of the backfield havenąt had many opportunities or much success this season. This should change against Case Western on Saturday. (photo by Brian Hodgkin)