GRANVILLE, Ohio (November 12, 2022) – With his one-yard touchdown rush with 1:57 to go in the first quarter, junior running back Trey Fabrocini became the single-season rushing touchdown leader in the storied history of the Denison University football program. In the end, the Big Red defeated Kenyon College 49-12 on a snowy Senior Day inside Piper Stadium. Prior to the start of the game, Denison said goodbye to its 22-member senior class comprised of Eric Adinkra, Josh Aiello, Jonathan Bearden, Jack Bishop, Douglas Brooks, Andrew Brown, Cooper Carroll, Chris Chao, Drew Dawkins, Clay Denstorff, Karl Ellis, Trevor Foreman, Michael Freilino, Sully Janeck, DJ Johnson, Mack Marston, Charlie Mensh, Anthony Rooney, Ben Starcevich, Brian Stone, Kevin Stone and Vince Zelisko.

Fabrocini, who actually scored twice during the season finale, officially passes Alex Minton's previous record of 18 rushing touchdowns set in 2019. Before that, the previous record of 17 rushing touchdowns set by Eric Ivary in 1966 is a benchmark that stood for over 50 years.

Additionally, Fabrocini surpassed over 200 rushing yards for the second game in a row as he finished with 28 attempts for 206 yards, which was good for 7.4 yards per carry. He finished the season with 1,303 yards, which puts him fifth for the most rushing yards in a single season in program history. Lastly, Fabrocini is now one of only seven players in the history of Denison football with multiple 200-yard rushing games in their career.

Fifth-year quarterback Drew Dawkins had a memorable ending to his career as he finished by completing 15 of his 22 passes for 235 yards and four touchdowns. It was his second four-touchdown game of the season and was his second most passing yards in a game this year. His 22 passing touchdowns this season are tied for the third most in program history with Max Paulus (2011), while his 1,977 passing yards just breaks his previous career-high of 1,936 yards set in 2019 that ranked 11th in the Big Red record books.

Another senior with a huge day offensively was Mack Marston, who hauled in five catches for 132 yards and two touchdowns. Marston finished his season tied for eighth in program history in receiving touchdowns (7), tied for ninth in receptions (53) and 12th in receiving yards (698) in a single season.

It was a great start to the game for the Big Red as Dawkins and Marston hooked up for a 79-yard catch and run for a touchdown on Denison's very first play from scrimmage.

After Kenyon got on the scoreboard thanks to a blocked punt recovered in the endzone, Fabrocini scored his record-breaker with a one-yard rush to make it 14-6 with two minutes left in the first quarter.

The second quarter featured the second passing touchdown of the game from Dawkins to a Big Red tight end (Jon Adamson), and then the Denison defense made its mark on the game on Kenyon's first possession of the third quarter as Jeff Moore came up with a 34-yard interception returned for a touchdown, making it 28-6 Big Red.

Then after Kenyon made it a two-score game (28-12) with its second touchdown to end a long 13-play, 81-yard drive, Dawkins answered with a 10-play, 75-yard drive for Denison that ended with his third touchdown pass of the game and second to a follow senior as he found Josh Aiello on a slant in the middle of the field for a 12-yard score on fourth-and-two.

That score made it 35-12 with under three and a half minutes left in the third quarter, and then on the ensuing Owls' drive, Kenyon made its way past midfield before a long pass was intercepted on a great play by the ball-hawk Roshaune Downie. That led to the 20th rushing touchdown of the year by Fabrocini, this one from eight yards out early in the fourth quarter to make it a 30-point ballgame at 42-12.

After a sack by senior Clay Denstorff on fourth down on the next Kenyon drive, Dawkins and Marston put the cherry on top of their Senior Day performances with a 22-yard touchdown to make it 49-12 in the final three minutes of the game.

Lastly, fifth-year senior Anthony Rooney put the finishing touches on the game with an interception on the final Kenyon possession, which allowed senior quarterbacks Sully Janeck and Ben Starcevich to enter the game for the final series.

Among the other Denison seniors on offense, Andrew Brown finished with seven carries for 35 yards, which was good for five yards a rush, while Aiello finished with five catches for 65 yards and a touchdown.

On defense, Denison was led by Moore with eight tackles while Downie finished with six tackles and an impressive five pass breakups. Jack Nimesheim also had six tackles and senior Jonathan Bearden had six tackles, a tackle for loss and one of two forced fumbles in the game for the Big Red. Senior Vince Zelisko finished with three tackles and was one of four Big Red players with a tackle for loss.

Denison finishes its 2022 season 8-2 overall and 6-2 in the North Coast Athletic Conference, marking the third time in the last four full seasons under the direction of Head Coach Jack Hatem and the fourth time since 2016 that the Big Red have reached the eight-win plateau in a season.