GAMBIER, Ohio – The Denison University Big Red capitalized on early Kenyon College mistakes and benefitted from great field position throughout Saturday's football game. That combination proved lethal for the host Lords, who wound up suffering a 41-12 defeat in the final game of the 2016 season.

Within the game's first eight minutes, Denison (8-2, 7-2 NCAC) rang up 21 points. The Big Red accepted the opening kickoff and drove 76 yards in 10 plays to score the game's first touchdown, a 20-yard pass from Tommy Iammarino to David Weimar. Kenyon then fumbled away its first possession on its own five-yard line. That led to a two-yard touchdown run for Cody Farley and the Big Red. When Kenyon got the ball back again, it went three-and-out. Denison needed just five more plays to score again and move ahead 21-0. This time it was an eight-yard touchdown toss from Iammarino to Charlie Mueller.

Things didn't get any better on the Lords' next drive, which opened with freshman quarterback Thomas Merkle throwing an interception that was returned to the Kenyon 14-yard line. That resulted in a 23-yard field goal for Conor Dunn and a 24-0 lead for the Big Red, who would tack on one more score in the second quarter and went into halftime with a 31-0 lead.

Denison started two of it drives within the Kenyon 15-yard line in the first half and started four drives inside the Kenyon 35-yard line for the game. On the other side, Kenyon's best field position to start a drive was its own 41-yard line. Eleven of Kenyon's other 14 drives began within its own 30-yard line.

The Big Red scored one more time before the Lords were able to end their offensive drought. The Lords' score came after a drawn-out, 14-play, 76-yard drive that ended when junior Ian Bell found pay dirt from 16 yards out.

Still in the third quarter, Dunn responded with a 48-yard field goal to put a cap on Denison scoring. Kenyon then ended all scoring later in the quarter with a 36-yard scoring strike from Merkle to Ian Robertson.

Merkle finished the game 24-of-49 for 225 yards, one touchdown and two interceptions. That brought a conclusion to his freshman campaign that included Kenyon single-season records for passing attempts (464), completions (276) and passing yardage (2,928).

Bell had a total of 38 rushing yards and also grabbed a team-high nine Merkle passes for 86 yards. Robertson finished with five catches for 65 yards and touchdown in the third-quarter.

Senior receiver Brian Hunca, who had a quiet game with five catches for 41 yards, also left the field as a Kenyon record-holder. He set the College's single-season mark with 99 receptions and his total of 1,283 receiving yards for the season ranks third all-time in Kenyon history. In terms of career numbers, Hunca exits the program ranked second in receptions (241) and receiving yards (3,294).

While Kenyon's passing game thrived for most of the season, the running game never really took off. The Lords' total of 116 rushing yards against the Big Red was its second-best of the season. Sophomore Rob Meagher has a lot to do with that, as he piled up 89 yards on just ten carries Saturday.

For the Big Red, Iammarino was 22-of-31 for 175 yards and four touchdowns. Farley led the ground game with a couple of big runs and a total of 173 yards. Iammarino's brother, Matt, caught four passes for 52 yards and two touchdowns, while Weimar finished with seven catches, 52 yards and one score.

After a 3-1 start to the season, Saturday's loss to Denison finalized Kenyon's overall record at 3-7 and its North Coast Athletic Conference record at 2-7.