GRANVILLE, Ohio (October 15, 2022) – Thanks to the game-winning 40-yard field goal by sophomore Daniel Cunningham as time expired, the Denison University football team snapped its two-game losing streak and picked up its third win in North Coast Athletic Conference action following a 41-38 victory at home over Hiram College on Saturday inside Deeds Field-Piper Stadium.

It was a wild back-and-forth game that saw five lead changes and at one point, had four turnovers in a row by the two teams. In the first quarter, both teams put up two touchdowns before things got weird to start the second quarter.

After Hiram (1-5 overall, 1-4 NCAC) scored first on the opening drive of the game, going 84 yards in nine plays and finishing with a 38-yard touchdown pass, Denison (5-2, 3-2) answered with a six-play, 65-yard drive and a 16-yard touchdown pass from Drew Dawkins to DJ Johnson on its first drive. Then after a 24-yard punt return by Jaylin Epps after the next Hiram possession, Denison again went 65 yards down the field, this time in seven plays, to make it 14-7 with a one-yard touchdown run by Trey Fabrocini with 1:21 left in the first quarter.

However, after a five-play, 65-yard drive for Hiram ended with the fourth touchdown of the first quarter, the second quarter began with an interception by Denison before getting the ball back on an forced fumble near midfield by Jeff Moore recovered by Vince Zelisko.

Although the Big Red could do nothing with the turnover as fumbles on back-to-back plays gave the ball back to Hiram, an interception by Jonathon Higle on the very first play of the next Hiram possession set Denison up at first-and-goal before Fabrocini punched it in from seven yards one play later for his second rushing touchdown of the first half.

After that made it 21-14 midway through the second quarter, Hiram would tie it up in the final minute with a 28-yard touchdown pass to cap an eight-play, 77-yard drive, but 38 seconds was plenty of time for Denison to get into scoring position as Cunningham connected from 34 yards out to give the Big Red a three-point lead, 24-21, at the break.

To start the second half, the Big Red were stuffed on fourth-and-one on their first possession, leading to a go-ahead 15-yard touchdown run for Hiram to make it 28-24. Fortunately, Denison opened the fourth quarter by finishing off a 10-play, 67-yard drive with the third touchdown of the game by Fabrocini, this one through the air on an 11-yard touchdown pass by Dawkins to put the Big Red back in front 31-28.

That would be the first of three straight touchdowns and five straight scoring drives to end the game between the two teams as Hiram went 70 yards in only four plays and used a 55-yard touchdown run to retake the lead before Denison went 76 yards in 14 plays and scored on an eight-yard touchdown pass from Dawkins to Jon Adamson to make it 38-35 Denison with 3:04 remaining.

From there, Hiram did its best to run the clock down and score the go-ahead touchdown in the final minute, but three straight incompletions from the Denison 15-yard line brought up fourth down, and the Terriers were forced to go for the tie, which they converted with the 32-yard field goal with only 26 seconds remaining.

Fortunately for the Big Red, Epps did what he does best, and that is get a huge return as he returned the ensuing kickoff 46 yards to the Hiram 45-yard line. On the first play of the drive and with only 17 seconds on the clock, Dawkins found Marston open in the middle of the field for a 25-yard completion to get the ball down to the 20-yard line.

Two plays later, Cunningham made his way onto the field, lined it up from 40 yards out, and converted on his second field goal and seventh total kick of the game, including five extra points, to win it.

In the end, the Big Red were outgained 486-430 overall and 319-181 through the air, but found a way to win thanks in large part to Cunningham, three touchdown passes from Dawkins, and 249 yards on the ground, 174 of which came from Fabrocini.

Dawkins finished 17-for-26 for 181 yards while Fabrocini rushed 29 times for an average of six yards per rush. Marston and Johnson both led the Big Red with five receptions while Fabrocini added four catches for 46 yards and three total scores. Entering the game, Fabrocini was tied for second in all of NCAA Division III with 12 rushing touchdowns and 13 total touchdowns while his 611 rushing yards ranked 12th in the country.

On defense, Denison was led by Moore and Sam Secrest with seven tackles each while Nathan Hallenbeck and Collin Hill both had five tackles and Clay Denstorff finished with five total tackles, four tackles for loss and two sacks for 21 yards.