Oberlin, Ohio – It was a historic day for the Oberlin College Department Athletics & Physical Education with the opening of the Austin E. Knowlton Athletics Complex. Unfortunately, the celebration was bittersweet as the visiting College of Wooster Fighting Scots defeated the Oberlin College Yeomen 63-10 in the program's first-ever home night game.
 
A total of 2,043 people were on hand to witness the game and take part in the memorable evening that concluded with a fireworks show.
 
"It was an electric crowd and the atmosphere was great," Head Coach Jay Anderson said. "I just wish we would have played better for this crowd and you can count on that we will continue to work hard for this campus and community moving forward."
 
On the field the Yeomen struggled to slow down the high-powered offense of the Scots as they totaled 574 yards of offense and scored nine touchdowns.
 
Oberlin won the toss and marched 65 yards on 14 plays, taking 8:04 off the clock, but the drive stalled out in the red zone and the Yeomen had to settle for a 24-yard Erickson Andrews field goal.
 
The Scots would respond on their first drive of the game as Sean Hackel capped an 11-play, 75-yard drive with a 12-yard touchdown run to make it a 7-3 game.
 
However, Oberlin answered right back to reclaim the lead on the first play of the ensuing drive. Lucas Poggiali connected with Justin Cruz on a long post-play that covered 70 yards for a Yeomen touchdown. It was their second long-distance hook-up in as many weeks. The score made it a 10-7 in favor Oberlin with 2:50 left to play in the first quarter, and at the time little did anyone know it would be the last Yeomen score of the game.
 
Wooster responded in a big way as Tyler Smith returned the ensuing kickoff 66 yards to setup a 29-yard TD toss from Richard Barnes to Darrian Owens. The Barnes-to-Owens connection would strike once more before the end of the period to give the Scots a 21-10 lead after 15 minutes of action.
 
In the second quarter the Yeomen offense bogged down, but unfortunately the Scots' offense did not as they scored three more touchdowns to take a 42-10 lead into the locker room.
 
Oberlin continued to fight, but was able to find the endzone in the second half, while the Scots went on to add three more scores.
 
The Yeomen recorded 324 yards in the game, but struggled to maintain drives, earning just 12 first downs compared to the Scots' 33.
 
Blake Buckhannon accounted for 91 of Oberlin's 140 yards on the ground, while Cruz snagged six balls for a career-high 137 yards. It was his second straight 100-yard receiving game.
 
Defensively, Max Schenk led the team with 13 tackles, while Justin Bute added 11. Adrian Kelly completed a trio of Yeomen with double-digit tackles, finishing with 10.
 
The Yeomen have another tall task next week when No. 19 Wittenberg comes to town for a 1 p.m. kickoff.