Box Score
CRAWFORDSVILLE, Ind. – Through one quarter of play, all seemed to be on an even playing field in Saturday's matchup between the Kenyon College Lords and the No. 16 Wabash College Little Giants. The second quarter ended up becoming a breakout session for the Wabash offense, proven by two touchdowns and a field goal as part of 34 unanswered points before Kenyon got on the board. The Lords struggled on offense against a stingy Little Giants defense, leading to a 48-7 road defeat which snapped a three-game win streak.
Kenyon's offense was held to just 157 total yards, 91 of those coming through the air via quarterback Jake Bates. Despite not having any turnovers, the Lords converted only nine first downs and the first did not come until their sixth offensive possession. Kenyon was forced into five consecutive three-and-outs to start the game and nine total.
The Lords' most successful drive resulted in their lone touchdown. The drive started on their own 20-yard line and ended 11 plays later when Blake Calcei pounded home a two-yard run to close out the drive.
Bates converted just 10 passes on 20 attempts through the air for 91 yards. One week after his career day on the ground, junior running back Brandon January was held to just 28 yards and 3.1 yards per carry on nine attempts.
On the flip side, Wabash rolled out over 500 yards of total offense and scored the game's first 34 points. Little Giants quarterback Michael Putko scored three times through the air and was 17-for-26 for 217 yards on the day. He hit Jon Laird five times, twice for a touchdown, for a game-high 90 yards.
On the ground, Wabash's Grant Klembara led the team with 162 of the team's 311 rushing yards, hitting paydirt once. Fellow running backs Anthony Stella and Matt Gibson also found the endzone once, each from one yard out. They combined for 140 yards on 21 carries between them.
The Wabash defense put Bates down for five sacks on the day, led by Nate Scola's one-and-one-half sacks and three tackles for loss.
Jamar Chichester and Reed Franklin led the Lords' defense with nine tackles each. Kolin Sullivan has the team's lone sack along with five tackles.
The loss snaps a three-game winning streak the Lords took into Crawfordsville, Ind. and drops them to 4-3 overall. Their 4-2 record in North Coast Athletic Conference play lands them in fourth place in the conference standings with three games yet to play. Their next challenge will come at home on Oct. 26 against No. 18 Wittenberg University. The Tigers will be the Lords' second nationally-ranked opponent in as many weeks.
