Wooster, Ohio – The Oberlin College football team fought through adversity all night long and in the end its resilience paid off as the Yeomen outlasted the Scots of Wooster 28-23 on Saturday night at John P. Papp Stadium.
The victory snapped an eight-game skid against the Scots as the last Yeomen win over Wooster came in 2003 (14-7). The triumph also moved Oberlin's record to 3-4 overall and 3-3 in the NCAC. The Yeomen have not been 3-4 through seven weeks of the season since 2007.
In his first-career start at quarterback, sophomore Christian Flynn was impressive as he was 16-of-23 passing for 236 yards and two touchdowns without an interception. He also added 52 yards on the ground on nine attempts.
Rookie wideout Ryan Gleeson was Flynn's top target, hauling in seven balls for a career-best 120 yards and a score. Justin Cruz also added 81 yards on six catches, which included a 30-yard TD.
Blake Buckhannon, who did the bulk of his work as a wildcat quarterback, rushed for 48 yards on 19 attempts and found paydirt two times. Senior classmate Justin Williams added 43 yards on 12 carries.
The Yeomen used the ground attack on their opening drive that covered 70 yards on 10 plays. However, it was a 29-yard catch-and-run by Gleeson that put the Yeomen on top 6-0. It was the first-career touchdown for both he and Flynn.
The Scots would later respond following a questionable unsportsmanlike conduct penalty by the Yeomen. Instead of having a 2nd-and-26, the Scots were gifted an automatic first down at the Oberlin 21-yardline. Tyson Vogel would then find a wide-open Dan Gorzynski to briefly tie the game at 6-6 before the Scots PAT was good.
In the second quarter David Smith found running back Russell Boston on a 4-yard slant to make it a 14-6 Wooster lead.
The Yeomen would then put together a methodical 16-play, 58-yard drive that took 10:27 off the clock. The big plays on the drive featured a 15-yard catch by Gleeson on 4th-and-3 and a key Scots pass interference penalty that gave the Yeomen a new set of downs. Buckhannon then took over as the wildcat quarterback, running five straight times off the direct snap for 22 yards, including a 1-yard TD plunge to make it a two-point game, 14-12, at the intermission.
The Yeomen started the third quarter with the ball, going 70 yards on 10 plays in 4:36. A 17-yard hook-up from Flynn to Gleeson on 3rd-and-12 extended the drive and three plays later the duo would connect again for a 17-yard scoring strike. The Yeomen would convert the two-point conversion to grab a 20-14 lead.
Later in the period the Scots would go back out in front by the slimmest of margins as Gorzynski got behind the Yeomen defense and Smith found him for a 57-yard TD. The point after made it 21-20 with 4:19 left in the third quarter.
On the ensuing Yeomen drive Oberlin marched down to the Scots' 1-yardline but had nothing to show for it. A critical false start penalty pushed the Yeomen back to the six and they were unable to punch it in on the next two plays as Wooster was clinging to its one-point lead with 14:09 left in the game. Oberlin was flagged a season-high 13 times for 99 yards in the game with 11 miscues coming in the first half.
After the goal-line stand, Wooster was building a drive, converting on 3rd-and-8 and 3rd-and-11, making their way into Yeomen territory. However, Oberlin's defense would come up big when it needed most as rookie Fletcher Quigley broke-up Smith's pass attempt on 4th-and-8 from the 33.
Taking over with 6:25 to go and down by one, Flynn quickly got the Yeomen into Scots' territory before hitting Cruz on a double-move for a 30-yard TD. The all-important two-point attempt was converted as Flynn found Gleeson tip-toeing along the back of the endzone to make it a 28-21 Yeomen advantage.
Wooster had an opportunity tie it and worked its way down to a 1st-and-goal-to-go situation from the 9-yardline. However, a huge 5-yard tackle-for-loss by Gabe Edwards pushed them back to the 14. Wooster then elected to throw on the next three plays, with just one completion down to the 10. Vogel's fourth down toss was nowhere close as Devin Wilkins rushed him off the corner to make him hurry his throw.
After taking over with 1:39 to go, Oberlin should have been able to run out the clock, but penalties and a Wooster timeout changed their plans. Deep in their own territory, Oberlin took an intentional safety, electing to free kick from their own 20. However, the kick went out of bounds and the Scots took over with 15 seconds at the 50-yardline with one last chance. They would complete two passes, totaling 20 yards, but the clock would run out.
Justin Bute led the Yeomen defense with 11 tackles, while Bennett Jackson chipped in with nine. Spencer Conley registered two of Oberlin's six TFL's.
The Yeomen are idle next Saturday and will return to action on October 31 at Wittenberg University. Kickoff is set for 1 p.m.