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Kenyon College Athletics

17
Winner Kenyon KEN 2-3 , 1-3
13
Wittenberg WIT 0-5 , 0-4
Winner
Kenyon KEN
2-3 , 1-3
17
Final
13
Wittenberg WIT
0-5 , 0-4
Score By Quarters
Team 1st 2nd 3rd 4th F
KEN Kenyon 7 0 7 3 17
WIT Wittenberg 0 13 0 0 13
2026 Kenyon College Football
Khaliun Ganibal

Game Recap: Football |

Owls score historic win at Wittenberg

SPRINGFIELD, Ohio -- The Kenyon College football team locked up the Wittenberg University offense on Saturday, forced four turnovers, and chalked up a 17-13 North Coast Athletic Conference (NCAC) triumph at Edwards-Maurer Field. It was the first time since 1914 that Kenyon defeated Wittenberg.

The Owls, who were minus-seven in turnover ratio through their first four games this season, finally got the ball to bounce their way and were a plus-three on Saturday against the Tigers.

Kenyon (2-3, 1-3 NCAC), and specifically its defense, set the tone early in the game. During Wittenberg's second offensive possession, a Kenyon sack by Matthew Ehrenreich put the Tigers in a fourth-down-and-22 at their own 12-yard line. When the Tigers tried to punt, sophomore Andrew Pohlman broke through the line, blocked the punt, and set up the Kenyon offense at the Wittenberg four-yard line.

Three plays later, Kenyon quarterback Drew Morgan found receiver Max Heis for a one-yard scoring strike, putting Kenyon in front 7-0.

From there, Kenyon struggled offensively and went into halftime trailing 13-7. Wittenberg racked up two second-quarter touchdowns, but missed the point-after-kick on the second score.

In the third quarter, it was the Kenyon defense that came through again. A long drive from Wittenberg was thwarted by Kenyon defensive back Dominic Simpson, who picked off a pass at the goal line and returned to the Kenyon 16-yard line.

The offense then got on track for the Owls and pieced together an 11-play, 84-yard drive that resulted in a four-yard touchdown run from sophomore Dominic Santoiemma. Tyler Bell put the point-after through and Kenyon moved ahead 14-13.

Both offenses stumbled through the fourth quarter, too, but Kenyon got the better of field position and, about half-way through the quarter, pinned the Tigers on their own one-yard line with a 55-yard punt from Morgan.

Wittenberg went three-and-out from there and punted the ball away to Kenyon, who watched Simpson return it 18 yards to the Wittenberg 35-yard line. The Kenyon offense then worked the clock and slowly moved the ball down to the 11-yard line. At that point, with 2:31 left in the game, first-year kicker Bronson Maccini tacked on a 28-yard field goal to give Kenyon a four-point advantage.

Wittenberg (0-5, 0-4 NCAC) got two more possessions, but Kenyon's defense came up big both times to secure the victory.

The offensive numbers weren't pretty for either team. Wittenberg wound up with 238 yards of total offense, averaging 3.5 yards per play, while Kenyon managed just 201 yards of offense, averaging only 2.9 yards per play.

Morgan ended up 16-of-35 for 129 yards through the air with Heis snaring a team-high six of those passes for 51 yards. On the ground, Santoiemma had 31 of the Owls' 72 yards.

Wittenberg, which used three different quarterbacks, had 131 yards in the air with receiver Dre Jackson totaling 58 yards and a touchdown on four catches. On the ground, Gerald Banks led the Tigers with a game-high 94 yards and a touchdown.

Junior linebacker Trey Blazevich topped the Kenyon defensive chart with a team-high eight tackles, including two quarterback sacks.

Since Wittenberg joined the NCAC in 1989, the Tigers put together a perfect 26-0 record against Kenyon, until Saturday's result. Prior to that, the two teams did not square off on the gridiron for 40 years. From 1917 to 1948, Wittenberg was 9-0-1 against Kenyon, with the tie coming in the 1921 season. Three years before that, Kenyon defeated Wittenberg in Springfield, 12-0, with coach Robert Mathews at the helm.

 
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Scoring Summary

Scoring Summary
Scoring Play Visiting Team Score Home Team Score
1st Quarter KEN WIT
KEN
05:07 - KEN - Heis,Max 1 yd pass from Morgan,Drew (Bell,Tyler kick) 3 plays, 4 yards, TOP 00:50
7 0
2nd Quarter KEN WIT
WIT
10:19 - WIT - Banks,Gerald 6 yd run (Shroyer,Sumner kick), 8 plays, 77 yards, TOP 04:41
7 7
WIT
00:10 - WIT - Jackson,Dre 23 yd pass from Burton,Cole ( ) 5 plays, 63 yards, TOP 00:53
7 13
3rd Quarter KEN WIT
KEN
01:55 - KEN - Santoiemma,Dominic 4 yd run (Bell,Tyler kick), 11 plays, 84 yards, TOP 03:38
14 13
4th Quarter KEN WIT
KEN
02:31 - KEN - Maccini,Bronson 28 yd field goal 7 plays, 24 yards, TOP 04:29
17 13

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