GRANVILLE- The Case Western Reserve defense forced three turnovers and the Spartan special teams contributed two touchdowns as Case held off Denison 24-6 at Deeds Field-Piper Stadium.

Both offenses struggled early, but Case Western Reserve managed two scoring drives in the first half to take a 12-0 lead into the locker room.  With time winding down in the first quarter, wide receiver Bryan Metlesitz scored on a 24-yard pass from Erik Olson to put the visitors up, 6-0.

With 8:39 left in the second quarter, Case inserted back-up quarterback Max Bohon for the first time, and on his first play from scrimmage, he found Brian Rice for a 45-yard gain down to the Denison 19-yard line.  Three plays later, Christian Anderson plunged in from 10-yards out, giving CWRU a 12-0 lead.

After a nine play, 30-yard drive for Denison to open the third quarter resulted in a punt landing Case on its own 20-yard line, the Denison defense went to work.  After forcing a three-and-out, the Spartans got new life after a roughing the kicker call moved Case to their own 38-yard line.

Three straight incomplete passes would force Case to punt but Olson, who also pulls double-duty as the Case punter, had a trick up his sleeve when he took the long snap and went up the middle for a 62-yard touchdown run.

On Denison's next possession it would be Case's punt return squad that would strike a damaging blow to DU's comeback chances when Dan Calabrese returned Matt Ring's punt 55-yards for the score, lifting CWRU to a 24-0 lead.

The Big Red would respond on its next try when Max Paulus drove Denison down the field in four plays that spanned 65 yards in just 1:30.  The key play was a 54-yard touchdown pass to senior Andy Carpenter with 2:01 left in the third quarter.

Early in the fourth quarter, still trying to chip away at the Case lead, Paulus had DU in enemy territory but a Kevin Nossem interception at its own 15-yard line, would ice the game for CWRU.  Nossem had a big afternoon, finishing with 14 tackles, four sacks, one interception and one forced fumble.

Paulus was 24-of-41 for 269 yards and one touchdown.  He was sacked six times and was intercepted twice.  Carpenter led all receivers with 109 yards off five receptions.  John Wilson caught a team-high seven passes for 56 yards while running the ball 11 times for 27 yards.

Olson led Case with 213 yards passing and one touchdown pass.  He also rushed for 49 yards and a touchdown off the fake punt.  Metlesitz was the favorite target, finishing with nine catches for 138 yards.

The Denison defense was led by senior cornerback Pat Effinger who had seven tackles.  The team posted three sacks and Adam finished with three tackles, one forced fumble and one interception.

Nossem was the game-changer for Case Western Reserve but Jacob Adams had 13 tackles, one fumble recovery and three quarterback hurries while Dale English notched six tackles, two sacks and three tackles for a loss.

Denison falls to 2-2 with the loss while Case Western improves to 2-1.  The Big Red will hit the road next Saturday when they travel to The College of Wooster for a 1 p.m. kickoff.