GAMBIER, Ohio – Freshman quarterback Thomas Merkle threw for 315 yards in his first collegiate football game and steered the Kenyon College Lords to a season-opening 21-17 win over the Sewanee Tigers.

The Lords got off to a rough start Saturday at McBride Field, falling behind 14-0 in the first quarter, but once Merkle loosened up and began to roll out of the pocket, things began to click for the Kenyon offense. By game's end, Merkle completed 24 of 40 passes with one touchdown and no interceptions.

Kenyon tried to establish its run game early, but had little success. Sewanee held the Lords to just 12 rushing yards on nine first-quarter attempts. Meanwhile, the Tigers offense capitalized on great field position and scored touchdowns on each of its first two possessions. A seven-play, 51-yard drive ended with quarterback Sam Hearn diving into the end zone from one yard out. That was followed by a five-play, 36-yard drive that saw Hearn hit Ronald Hayes for a 24-yard touchdown pass.

Facing that early deficit, the Lords began to attack by air and finally found pay dirt with exactly one minute left in the half. Backed up on their own eight yard-line, Merkle and the Lords drove 92 yards in eight plays. Ian Bell was the catalyst of the drive. He made receptions of 23 and 17 yards, and also broke off a ten-yard run. The drive ended when Merkle and tight end John O'Brien connected on an 18-yard scoring strike.

It appeared that Kenyon had all the momentum going into and coming out of halftime. Sewanee, however, held the ball for nearly ten minutes on its first, third-quarter possession and kicked a 31-yard field goal to take a 17-7 lead.



Kenyon got right back on track and answered with a 70-yard touchdown drive. During the drive, Brian Hunca had catches of 9, 4 and 34 yards. Bell finalized the drive with a seven-yard scoring run.

The Lords then claimed the lead on their next possession, which spanned the end of the third quarter and start of the fourth. Kenyon used a roughing-the-passer penalty and a 39-yard reception from Jibri McLean to set up shop on the Sewanee 12-yard line. On the next play, the first one of the fourth quarter, Bell took a direct snap and bolted into the end zone to put the Lords up by four.

Bell finished the game with six runs for 36 yards and six catches for 95 yards. Hunca grabbed seven passes for 96 yards and also tacked on four runs for 43 yards.

While the Kenyon passing game was most responsible for the win, the Lords defense turned things around and made a goal-line stand at the end of the game to seal the victory.

With less than a minute to play, the Tigers, trailing by four, moved the ball down to the Kenyon five yard line. An offensive pass interference call in the end zone then pushed Sewanee back to the 15-yard line. Two plays later, Hearn was scrambling for his life and lofted a pass toward the goal line, where Kenyon safety Curt Williams jumped in front of a Sewanee receiver and made the interception.

Back in the second quarter, Kenyon defensive lineman Quashae Hendryx also made a key interception, halting a Sewanee drive in the Lords' red zone.

The Kenyon defense wound up sacking Hearn four times. Senior linebacker Mike Gibbons got credited for one-and-a-half of those sacks and he finished the game with a total of nine tackles. Saxon Justice also had nine tackles and Cody Keenan led the way for Kenyon with ten takedowns.

Hearn, a freshman, never got comfortable in the pocket. He was hurried for the majority of the game and completed just 9-of-21 passes for 87 yards. The Tigers' main source of offense was tailback Mikey Plancher who rang up 121 yard on 28 rushes.

The game was Kenyon's only non-conference contest of the 2016 season. The Lords will remain at home next weekend to start their North Coast Athletic Conference run against Oberlin College.