Football Falls to Case Western

Yeomen Fail to Get Off to a Quick Start

Both Case Western and Oberlin's football teams came into Saturday's game seeking their first win, and looking to get their offense in gear. Unfortunately, Case accomplished both, and the Yeomen are still searching. Though it was a game that should have been a lot closer, it ended with a final score of 37-14.

For the third straight game, Oberlin was held scoreless for the duration of the first half. These slow offensive starts have caused the Yeoman to get behind early, making it difficult for them to catch up late in the game. In contrast, Case Western Reserve was not as slow to start off the game, scoring on their second, third and fourth drives of the game, giving them a 21-0 lead early in the second quarter.

Case's first and second scoring drive of the day consisted of three plays and spanned 87 yards. The play that resulted in a touchdown was a 76 yard pass from Tom Kauffman to Vince Domencio. This was the fourth pass play of over 50 yards in as many games against the Oberlin defense.

The defensive backfield, however, has been plagued with injuries. Two almost identical injuries occurred to first-years Quammie Semper and Mark Lengel, who both have broken arms near the wrist. Semper will be returning to the lineup in two weeks against Hiram, but Lengel will miss a few more weeks.

Other injuries have plagued the team, inculding those that ended junior lineman Rob Moffatt, junior tight end Bob Montag, and first-year tailback Derek Eggers' season. Two of these unfortunate injuries happened to upperclassmen on an already young and struggling offense.

Oberlin's offense had a fair outing this week with 228 total yards. They had only one turnover on the day, showing a sign of growth. Oberlin's passing attack was shared this weekend, between first-year Troy DeWitt who was injured in the first half, and sophomore Chris Moffatt who stepped in and did well throwing for 152 yards, a touchdown and an interception. The two quarterbacks are giving everything they have to win the starting position, though the competition is making both play better.

The offensive highlight came on Oberlin's first drive of the fourth quarter when Moffatt marched the team down the field and completed an 11 yard pass to senior Jesse Cretaro for the touchdown.

Head Coach Jeff Ramsey said, "Jessie ran a great route, and Chris put the ball right in his chest."

This kind of execution in the red zone is what Oberlin's offense has been lacking all season. Their key to success will be doing it earlier in the game and more often. DeWitt had a similar drive against Earlham, but in both cases it just wasn't enough.

Ramsey had many things to say about the game, and he began by giving credit to Case, saying, "They were a disciplined team and didn't make many mistakes." On the other hand, he stated, "We made too many mistakes. It came down to the inability to move the ball and put it in the end zone, also the inexperience of our players."

At times the offensive line had four first-years playing at the same time, including two first-year running backs and a first-year quarterback. When such a young team matches up against third and fourth year players they will have to learn quickly from experience to succeed.

"We are still in too many third down situations," he added.

Oberlin's defense, which has played fairly well this season, struggled a little Saturday. Opposing teams are finding ways to exploit the Yeomen's chief weakness ‹injuries and inexperience. On the other hand, the defense scored their first touchdown of the season with an interception from sophomore Mike McClendon, who returned the pick 65 yards the other way to score Oberlin's second and final touchdown of the day. Also, the Yeomen's defense had 10 tackles for loss, including a sack from first-year Anthony Hudgins for a loss of 10 yards.

The Yeomen will attempt to get their first win of the season when they travel to Crawfordsville, Ind. this weekend. There they will face a new conference opponent, the Wabash Little Giants. Wabash lost their first NCAC game to powerhouse Wittenberg University, 41-10. Hopefully, for the beating Wittenberg gave to the Little Giants will carry over to this weekends' game, because Wabash will be a tough team to beat.

Ramsey stated, "They are a good team, the defensive front seven is strong, so we are going to attack their secondary. "Kickoff is at 1:30, at Byron P. Hollett Little Giant Stadium in Indiana.