Granville, Ohio- In front of a roaring Big Red Weekend crowd, the Denison football team found its rhythm late in the fourth quarter to come from behind and defeat rival Ohio Wesleyan University 35-20. With today's home opener win, the Big Red improves to 2-2 overall and 1-1 in North Coast Athletic Conference play. The Battling Bishops drop to 1-3 for the season and 0-2 in conference play.

Both teams stepped onto Deeds Field with 1-2 records, a two-game losing skid, and a desire to start moving up the conference rankings with six games left in the regular season. The Battling Bishops wasted no time getting on the board, finding their end zone after three plays, and 75 yards in their 50-second opening drive.

Denison would finally find its footing in the second quarter, knotting the game at seven apiece with just under 30 seconds left in the half. The Big Red methodically worked its way down the field, tallying 12 plays for 80 yards, which eventually led to a one-yard pass from Tyler Green to Alex Stackhouse.

The Big Red picked up right where they left off to start the second half, as Green led an eight-play, 75-yard touchdown drive capped off by a tough 30-yard receiving touchdown from Grayson Kerscher to make it 14-7.

Ohio Wesleyan would respond with a field goal on their next drive to make it 14-10, and the next Big Red drive would be a three-and-out with 5:41 left in the third quarter. The Battling Bishops would take advantage of the failed Denison drive, as they had a seven-play, 62-yard drive to go up 17-14 going into the fourth quarter.

Green would then lead the Big Red down the field once again, this time scrambling around and finding Jack Williams in the corner of the endzone for the nifty pitch-and-catch touchdown to make it 21-17 and regain the lead after a 10-play, 75-yard drive.

On the next ensuing Ohio Wesleyan possession, quarterback Chanden Lee was picked off by linebacker Chase Daniel to set the Big Red on Ohio Wesleyan's 28-yard line; however, Denison was unable to capitalize on the turnover and would ultimately have to punt it away. 

The Battling Bishops would drive it down to the Denison 11-yard line, but the Big Red defense held strong, and Ohio Wesleyan had to settle for a field goal, making it 21-20.

On possibly the most crucial possession of the game, Denison drove 80 yards and took off eight minutes of the clock to punch it in off of an option to running back Blayton Reid to give the Big Red a 28-20 lead with 2:08 to go in the fourth.

In the next possession, Ohio Wesleyan failed to move the ball up the field thanks to some great coverage by the Big Red secondary. On fourth and seven, Ohio Wesleyan needing a first-down, cornerback Jonathon Higle came off a blitz and sacked C.J. Jackson for a nine-yard loss to give the Big Red the ball back with 1:41 in the fourth quarter.

Denison would capitalize on the fourth down stop, as Green took it in himself from two yards out to go up 35-20 to effectively end the game. 

Offensive Highlights

• Green finished with four total touchdowns (three passing, one rushing), 305 passing yards, and a 76.5 completion percentage.
• The Big Red finished with 413 yards of total offense, with 305 of them being passing. 
• Grayson Kerscher led in receiving yards with 10 catches for 104 yards and a touchdown. 
• Logan Yater finished with seven catches for 93 yards.
• Jack Williams finished his day with six catches for 80 yards and a score. 
• Blayton Reid had 26 carries for 98 yards and a touchdown.

Defensive Highlights

• Colton Morrow and Jonathan Higle both finished with seven tackles to lead the Big Red. 
• Drew Duffy, Christian Lariviere, Cole Harris and Higle all had a tackle for loss.
• The Bishops finished with 343 yards of total offense, the second lowest total yards the Big Red have given up all season.

Up next for the Big Red
Denison travels to Wooster, Ohio, on Saturday, October 11, to face the Fighting Scots of the College of Wooster. The two teams will cap off Saturday with a 7 p.m. matchup.