The Yeomen football team shut out the Hiram College Terriers 39–0 with a relentless performance last Saturday night. The team, kept the Terriers scoreless and accomplished its goal of limiting the Terriers to 150 yards, stopping them at 89 total yards. The Yeomen maintained momentum throughout the game, totaling 39 points and putting points on the scoreboard in each of the last three quarters.

Head Coach Jeff Ramsey saw the win as indicative of a team growing in character. “The team played up against an opponent that was overmatched. Many teams play down to the level of their opponents. The team’s intensity and mental toughness showed all night.”

Four Yeomen running backs scored points. Junior running back Moses Richardson had a total of 100 yards on the game, the third such game of his career. Richardson and senior receiver Robin Witjes both had touchdowns as well.

Richardson didn’t think too highly of his individual performance, instead focusing on the team’s interdependence as the key to success.

“I can’t really get anywhere without my linemen,” Richardson said. “The offensive line had a good game, and when they do, it makes my job easier as well as the quarterback’s. When we establish a good run game, the pass game opens up as well.”

While the offense had a tempered beginning, not scoring until the second quarter, the defense consistently frustrated the Terriers. Senior defensive lineman Clay Eaton had 2.5 sacks, totaling 15 for the season and surpassing the Oberlin record. He currently leads all divisions of college football in sacks.

The Yeomen defense choked all 13 third-down attempts by the Terriers, while the Yeomen offense converted on 50 percent of its third-down attempts, well above the season average of 21.6 percent.

The Oct. 6 game against Kenyon was the last in a four-game losing streak. In that game, the Yeomen lost 13–30 and converted on just 9 percent of their third-down attempts. Since then, the Yeomen have seen a dramatic alteration in performance and results, winning two games and losing a third in overtime. The third-down conversions in the past three games have rocketed to an average of 31 percent.

While at a disadvantage playing larger teams, with as many as twice the number of players, the Yeomen demonstrated that ultimately each team will be competing with equal numbers on the field, and attitude has the potential to trump numbers.

Senior co-captain and defensive back David Kalgren observed that a dominating performance is based in fundamentals, saying, “Errors were limited because everyone did their assignment, and when that happens, we play phenomenally.”

The Yeomen hope to carry on the momentum this Saturday when they travel to play Wabash College, ranked 10th in Division III, for their final away game of the season.