Box Score Denison shrugged off a slow start in Gambier by scoring 19 unanswered points in the third quarter. That would be enough to propel the Big Red to a 33-19 win over Kenyon College in the 2014 season finale. With the win, DU ends the year with a 6-4 record, marking the program's first back-to-back winning seasons since 1985-86.
The Big Red got on the scoreboard first and they went to a familiar weapon as three-time North Coast Athletic Conference Offensive Player of the Week, DuShawn Brown, scored on a 64-yard touchdown pass from Brandon Sklenar midway through the first quarter. That marked the 13th receiving touchdown for Brown. It was also his 10th catch of 40 yards or more this season.
Kenyon would respond with a 1-yard touchdown run by Blake Calcei but the two-point conversion failed, leaving DU with a 7-6 lead.
DU would get some help from the Lords later in the quarter, when their 30-yard field goal attempt was botched by a bad hold. Denison would take over on their own 20-yard line and on the first play of the drive, Sklenar connected with Everett McGregor on a 28-yard pass that got DU to mid field. After a Denison timeout, Sklenar would look for his favorite target, Brown, for 44-yards. Now deep in the red zone, McGregor capped off the quick drive on an 8-yard TD pass from Sklenar.
The Lords would get back on the board on their ensuing drive powered by a 26-yard pass from Sam Appel to Pierce Brady. Brandon January capped things off with a 12-run TD run, getting the Lords to within one at 14-13.
As the second half opened Denison needed a spark and they got it from Brown as he returned the opening kickoff 83-yards for a touchdown. That is the longest kickoff return since Michael Barnes' 96-yard return for a TD in 2007. Brown's second home run would open the door for Sklenar to take over offensively. The senior QB would score on a 15-yard run and a 42-yard run late in the third quarter, giving Denison a 33-13 lead heading into the fourth quarter.
Calcei would add a 4-yard scoring run in the fourth quarter, setting the final at 33-19.
Sklenar finished with 176 yards passing and 151 yards rushing which allowed him to become Denison's single-season leader in total offense with 3,408 yards.
Brown led Denison's receivers with four catches for 125 yards and one touchdown catch. His four kickoff returns for 140 yards gave him 265 all-purpose yards on the day. He ends the season with 83 catches for 1,397 yards and 13 touchdowns. All three are new single-season Denison records, and the 1,397 yards is a new single-season NCAC record.
On the defensive side of the football, DU's young safeties continued to rack up tackles as Andrew Baird finished with a career-high 19 stops. That is the most tackles by a Denison defensive player since Jason Wright posted 18 tackles against Waynesburg in 2005. First-year safety Joe Weidenbach followed with 10 tackles while Cameron Kahl and Zach Neufeld combined for one sack.
Denison outgained Kenyon 389-283 despite losing the time of possession battle 36-24.
With the win, Denison ends the year at 6-4 while Kenyon's season comes to a close at 1-9. In two years as the starting quarterback, Sklenar ends his career with 4,998 yards passing, 38 touchdown passes, 1,370 yards rushing and 17 TDs on the ground. His 6,368 yards of total offense ranks him fourth in the Denison career record books.
