Box Score GAMBIER, Ohio – Two football teams that traditionally have put up a lot of points against each other found themselves locked in a defensive struggle Saturday at McBride Field. It was the visiting Ohio Wesleyan University defense, however, that held off a late charge from the Kenyon College Lords and escaped with a 20-13 North Coast Athletic Conference win.

Ohio Wesleyan (2-0, 1-0 NCAC), the defending co-NCAC champions, built a 20-6 halftime lead that actually carried through a scoreless third quarter. In the fourth, Kenyon (1-2, 1-1 NCAC) started to make a move. On the Lords' third play of their second fourth-quarter possession, quarterback Jake Bates aired out a 65-yard touchdown strike to freshman receiver Jibri McLean. McLean hauled the ball in around the Ohio Wesleyan 35-yard line, made a quick move to juke his defender, and bolted to the opposite corner of the end zone.

Now trailing 20-13, Kenyon started to build momentum. On the Lords' next possession, they marched down to the Ohio Wesleyan 29-yard line and threatened to score again. This time, however, the Battling Bishops got a huge sack on a fourth-and-five play for the Lords.

After the Kenyon defense forced a third straight three-and-out for OWU, the Lords offense got one more shot at trying to tie the game up. The Purple and White moved the ball to the Ohio Wesleyan 47, but faced a fourth-and-ten with just 1:43 left in the game. Bates tried to go back to McLean on the next play, but the two could not make a connection. Ohio Wesleyan received the ball on downs and simply ran out the clock.

Prior to the fourth-quarter surge, Kenyon had another golden opportunity slip by in the third quarter. A drive that spanned 17 plays and 54 yards ended on the Ohio Wesleyan goal line. With Bates scrambling from three yards out, Ohio Wesleyan's Jonathan Valentine forced a fumble that bounced all the way back out to the 18-yard line, where it was recovered by the Battling Bishops. It was the only turnover of the game for Kenyon, but it was a costly one.

On the opposite side of the field, the Lords defense was solid. Ohio Wesleyan managed just 80 rushing yards for the game and averaged just 2.7 yards per rush. Senior linebacker Reed Franklin led way for Kenyon. He racked up eight tackles, including one sack, and five tackles for losses. Overall, Ohio Wesleyan gained just 70 yards in the second half of play.

Since Ohio Wesleyan had little success on the ground, the Battling Bishops went to the air. Quarterback Mason Espinosa was 28-of-50 for 270 yards and a touchdown. Many of his passes were short out routes which resulted in Kenyon cornerbacks Sam McQuiston and Zach Morrow leading the Lords with 15 and 11 tackles, respectively.

Offensively, Kenyon put up 179 passing yards and 105 rushing yards. Bates was 7-of-21 through the air with McLean snatching four of those passes for a game-high 138 receiving yards. On the ground, Casey Beaudouin carried the ball 17 times and gained 54 yards. Blake Calcei ran five times for 15 yards and scored Kenyon's first touchdown of the game, a four-yard run at the 10:01 mark of the first quarter.