The DePauw University football team beat Kenyon College 48-35 at Blackstock Stadium on Saturday, Oct. 1. The Tigers are now 4-0 overall and 3-0 in the North Coast Athletic Conference.
The Tigers opened up scoring with a 41-yard field goal from senior kicker Marko Adams. After an interception from sophomore defensive back, Brooks Hepp, DePauw added to their lead with a 37-yard rushing touchdown from senior quarterback Matt Hunt. With under two minutes to go in the first quarter, senior wide receiver Ian Good caught a 27-yard pass from Hunt to put the Tigers up 17-0.
Following a DePauw fumble, Kenyon capped off a five play, 47-yard drive with a rushing touchdown from sophomore running back Nat Henry to make the score 17-7. DePauw scored again with another field goal from Adams with just under six minutes left to play in the second quarter. This was Adams' 28th career field goal at DePauw, tying him with Tom Downham (1984-87) for most field goals made in DePauw football history.
With two minutes until halftime, the Lords scored another touchdown off of a 35-yard reception by receiver Jibri McLean to make the score 20-14. However, the Tigers quickly responded with another passing touchdown from Hunt, this time to junior wide receiver Nolan Ayres. The Tigers went 76 yards in under 90 seconds to go into halftime up 27-14.
Kenyon started off the second half with a 17-play, 76-yard drive capped off by a 14-yard touchdown pass from quarterback Thomas Merkle, putting the score at 27-21. With two minutes and 30 seconds to go in the third quarter, sophomore wide receiver Andy Hunt caught a 16-yard pass from his brother.
Following an interception from DePauw cornerback senior Cody Baker, the Tigers scored another touchdown, with the Hunt brothers connecting again on a receiving touchdown to extend the DePauw lead, 41-21. The Tigers would score again on their next drive, off of a 46-yard run by Matt Hunt.
The Lords scored another touchdown with 11 minutes to play in the fourth quarter, making the score 48-28. Kenyon was unable to launch a comeback, but would score again with 23 seconds left in the game. DePauw would finish the game and defeat Kenyon 48-35.
Kenyon had 492 total offense yards compared to DePauw's 471. While Kenyon's passing attack amounted to 438 yards to the Tigers' 237 passing yards, DePauw's running game was strong, as the Tigers out rushed Kenyon 234-54.
Matt Hunt was 18-30 with 237 yards, 4 touchdowns and 1 interception, and also ran for a career-high 159 yards and 2 touchdowns. DePauw's Andy Hunt had 8 receptions for 146 yards and 2 touchdowns.
Kenyon's Thomas Merkle was 44-66 with 438 yards, 4 touchdowns, and 2 interceptions. Brian Hunca of Kenyon had 18 receptions for 207 yards and a touchdown for the Lords.
DePauw Head Football Coach, Bill Lynch, was pleased with the performance of his team so far this season. “We played pretty well in each of the four games on both sides of the ball. Stats sometimes don't tell the whole story,” Lynch said. “Offensively we've scored some points and for the most part have done a good job taking care of the ball.”
Coach Lynch stressed that the Tigers are focused on four metrics in order to win: turnover margin, third and fourth down conversion percentage, making big plays, and starting field position.