On sunny Saturday afternoon, hordes of students, faculty, community members and enthusiastic cheerleaders gathered to support the men’s football team in its home opener against the Ohio Wesleyan Bishops.

Driven by momentum from the previous 33–3 victory over Earlham College two weeks prior and charged with the energy of the abounding crowd, the Yeomen played an exciting game, accruing multiple school and personal records. Unfortunately, however, their efforts were not enough to achieve a victory.

The game began with an impressive 54-yard pitch-and-catch from senior quarterback Josh Mandel to classmate Robin Witjes.

“That was a really good way to get it going, pretty exciting,” Senior Adam Niec remarked.

While the play did not come to fruition, sophomore Erickson Andrews followed up his impressive performance against Earlham by adding a 29-yard field goal to his achievements.

“He’s been a great spark for us,” said Head Coach Jeff Ramsey.

Down 10–16 at the end of the second quarter, the Yeomen began the third quarter with a bang. On the first play, senior Clay Eaton sacked Ohio Wesleyan’s quarterback, earning him the title of Oberlin College’s all-time sacks leader.

“Clay Eaton is always good. That’s why he’s pre-season All-American, that’s why he was All-American last year,” said Ramsey. Wide receiver Witjes also stood out, having the best game of his career thus far with 187 yards and a touchdown. Niec added another 149 yards receiving, marking the first time the team had ever had two receivers with over 150 yards.

The offense continued to impress for the duration of the quarter.

“Our game plan was really solid,” said Niec, “and our quarterbacks and our receivers were on the same page, doing the same thing.”

The crowd added to the thrust of the third quarter. “Is this an Oberlin College football game?” was overheard in the stands; appropriate given the unusual number of supporters gathered at Savage Stadium.

“I’ve seen fourteen first games now and that’s the biggest first game crowd we’ve ever had,” commented Ramsey.

Niec, too, expressed his appreciation for the Yeomen enthusiasts.

“We feed off the energy from the fans. It just spices everything up and gives us a security blanket because we have all these people rooting for us,” he said.

In the end, however, neither the fans nor the Yeomen’s valiant effort were enough to pull out a victory as the Yeomen lost 17–29. Ramsey hypothesized that after such an overwhelming win at Earlham, “we got a little overconfident.”

Niec believes it was “a lack of focus on the little things” that contributed to the loss. But he is confident that the Yeomen can come back and impress.

“[We have a] win-the-day type mentality,” said Niec. “We don’t try and win Saturday. If we can just start with Tuesday, then Wednesday, and take it one day at a time — that will be the key to our success this year as a whole.”

Despite the loss, Ramsey is optimistic as well.

“I think when you see guys like Adam Niec bounce back and have a really tremendous football game, then everybody can. Our team has the ability to play great, they just need to focus.”

The Yeomen will get another chance to prove their worth and focus their energy against the University of Chicago this homecoming weekend.

The team has been scouting Chicago’s players and watching them on film to gain insight into their different plays, focusing a lot more on the intellectual side of the game.

“People think, ‘football: you just run into people,’ but there’s so much more from a mental side,” said Niec. “It’s like chess and war.”

See the Yeomen take on the University of Chicago Maroons at 1 p.m. on Saturday at Savage Stadium.