Ohio Wesleyan 41, Kenyon 14

Oct. 22, 2005

Junior halfback Nick Rice (Dublin/Scioto) ran for 2 touchdowns and sophomore quarterback Steve Hymes (Barberton/Massillon Washington) threw for a touchdown and a 2-point conversion and junior safety Kyle Sherman (Plain City/Dublin Scioto) etched his name into the Ohio Wesleyan record books in leading the Battling Bishops over Kenyon in North Coast Athletic Conference action on Saturday in Gambier.

The win moved Ohio Wesleyan's record to 3-1 in the NCAC, keeping the Bishops in the hunt for the conference championship, while handing Kenyon its first conference loss of the season.

Ohio Wesleyan took the opening kickoff and promptly marched 71 yards in 10 plays to seize the lead for good. Highlighting the drive were completions from Hymes to sophomore split end Zach Dennis (Jefferson) for 31 yards and Hymes to freshman tight end Terrance Raeford (Brookline, Mass./Chesire Academy) for 36 yards. The latter completion took the Bishops to the Kenyon 9-yard line, and after 2 Hymes rushes got the ball to the Lord 2, Hymes connected with freshman halfback Calvin Willis (Hanford, Calif./West) for the score on fourth down. Senior Jason Whitcomb (Wauseon) converted the PAT for a 7-0 Bishop lead.

Kenyon answered with a long drive of its own, but after moving to a first down at the Ohio Wesleyan 23, the Bishop defense stiffened and Chad Rothschild's 39-yard field goal try was short.

Rice helped the Bishops move into the red zone again on their next possession, ripping off gains of 14 and 10 yards for first downs. Ohio Wesleyan marched to a first down at the Kenyon 17-yard line, but Hymes was picked off by Kenyon's Joey Furnari at the Kenyon 1 and Furnari returned the interception to the Lord 24.

The tide turned swiftly, however, when sophomore linebacker Bo Mayer (Hilliard/Davidson) returned the favor by intercepting a Rafael Sanchez pass and returning it 35 yards for a touchdown. It was Ohio Wesleyan's first interception return for a touchdown since Nov. 1, 2003, when senior safety Jeff King (Sidney/Piqua) ran back an interception 82 yards for a score during the Bishops' last visit to Kenyon.

Ohio Wesleyan forced a fumble to end the Lords' next possession, with freshman linebacker Dustin Meehan (Laurel, Md./St. Vincent Pallotti) recovering the ball at the Kenyon 30 and returning it 13 yards. The Bishops were unable to take advantage of the turnover, however, when freshman Chris Kras (Aurora) had his 29-yard field goal attempt go wide right.

The Bishop defense provided another scoring opportunity when sophomore linebacker Chad Ellis (Dublin/Scioto) picked off a Sanchez pass and returned it 30 yards to give Ohio Wesleyan the ball at the Kenyon 32. After Hymes gained 8 yards on first down, Rice was off the races on a 24-yard scoring jaunt that increased the Bishop lead to 20-0. The score stayed there when Whitcomb's PAT try failed.

The Lords stayed on the ground on their next possession and assembled their first scoring drive of the day. Alby Coombs and Sanchez did most of the damage, moving Kenyon to a first down at the Ohio Wesleyan 9-yard line. Coombs picked up 4 yards on first down and Javier Arbolaez got 4 more on second down, but Sanchez was stuffed for no gain on third down, with senior defenisve tackle Steve Greene (Mansfield/Senior) making the play. Facing a fourth-and-goal from the Ohio Wesleyan 1, the Lords went back to Arbolaez, who got into the end zone. Rothschild's PAT brought Kenyon within 20-7 with 4:55 left in the first half.

Ohio Wesleyan answered with a long drive of its own, also moving the ball exclusively on the ground. Hymes picked up 5 yards on third-and-5 to move the chains once, then got 9 yards on third-and-4 for another Bishop first down. Another 9-yard gain by Hymes moved the ball to the Kenyon 13, setting up Rice's 9-yard TD run. Hymes connected with senior split end Rick Rodgers (Medina/Parma) for a 2-point conversion that made the halftime score 28-7, Ohio Wesleyan.

Kenyon got the ball to open the second half, but Sherman picked off a Sanchez pass and a Kenyon penalty gave Ohio Wesleyan possession at the Lord 25-yard line. Willis picked up a big 14 yards on second-and-13 from the Lord 28, and a personal foul on Kenyon gave the Bishops a first-and-goal from the 5. From there, it took freshman halfback Kyle Adams (North Canton/Hoover) 2 tries to break the plane, going over from 1 yard out on second down. Kras' PAT increased the Bishop lead to 35-7.

Senior halfback Matt Carducci (Hudson) scored on a 3-yard run in the fourth quarter to stretch the Ohio Wesleyan lead to 41-7, and the Lords wrapped up the day's scoring with a 46-yard pass play from Sanchez to Teddy Bowman.

Kenyon put together one more scoring drive late in the game, but Sherman ended the threat by intercepting a Sanchez pass at the Bishop 1-yard line. The interception was Sherman's second of the game and the 17th of his career, breaking the Ohio Wesleyan career record set by Bill Wolfe from 1952-55.

Hymes led the Bishops with 97 yards on 14 rushes and completed 6 of 8 passes for 83 yards and a touchdown. Rice ran for 76 yards on 8 carries and 2 touchdowns and Carducci finished with 37 yards on 9 carries. Raeford and Dennis shared the team lead with 2 receptions apiece, good for 46 and 42 yards respectively.

Sanchez led all rushers with 138 yards on 17 carries and completed 9 of 21 passes for 107 yards and a touchdown. Joel Parker caught 3 passes for 23 yards and Andrew Hammack caught 3 passes for 15 yards.

Defensive standouts for Ohio Wesleyan included junior end Owen Case (Marion/River Valley), who led the Bishops with 14 tackles, including a sack and 2 for loss; Ellis, who had 10 stops and picked off a pass; King, who made 9 tackles; senior end Cisco Clervoix (Naples, Fla.), whose 9 tackles included 2 for loss; Mayer, who had 7 stops, intercepted a pass and broke up 2 others; and Sherman, who added 5 tackles to his 2 interceptions.

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