GRANVILLE, Ohio -- A slow start hindered the Denison University football team in a 53-34 setback to 13th ranked DePauw University in a battle of North Coast Athletic Conference unbeatens at Deeds Field – Piper Stadium on Saturday afternoon.
The loss drops the Big Red to 4-1 in NCAC play and 4-3 overall. All three of Denison's losses in 2024 have come against ranked opponents. The Tigers move to 6-0 overall and 4-0 in league play.
DePauw, who entered the game as one of the top scoring offenses in Division III football, lived up to the billing as they scored touchdowns on their initial two possessions of the game. A 14-yard touchdown pass by Nathan McCahill to Robby Ballentine capped a four-play, 57-yard drive that made it 7-0 at the 10:53 mark of the first quarter.
A little more than five minutes later, Caden Whitehead rushed three yards into the end zone to extend the DePauw advantage to 14-0. The Tigers took advantage of a short field, needing to move just 39 yards to push into the end zone for a second time.
DePauw made it 17-0 with a 25-yard field goal by Matthew Berry with 13:35 left in the second quarter.
Denison looked to flip the momentum on the ensuing kickoff when Jaylin Epps returned a kick the distance for a second-straight game.
Epps, who returned a kick 94 yards for a score last week in a win at Wooster, took this kick back 97 yards to help the Big Red trim the deficit to 17-7 just 12 seconds later. The kick return for touchdown was the sixth of Epps' collegiate career.
DePauw tacked on two more touchdowns to extends its lead. A 43-yard pass from McCahill to Ballentine at the 8:32 mark. A tipped pass, which was intercepted and returned by Jonathan Bruder for a 70-yard touchdown, made it 30-7 lead for the Tigers with 6:01 to play in the opening half.
Denison answered with a 10-play, 58-yard drive to get back into the end zone. Tyler Green connected with Tommy Asleson for a 14-yard scoring strike to trim the deficit to 30-14. The Tigers added a late score, a 48-yard kick by Berry on the final play of the half, to stretch the lead to 33-14.
DePauw made it 40-14 with a touchdown on its opening drive of the third quarter. McCahill found Ballentine for a third touchdown connection. The 14-yard touchdown pass capped a 75-yard drive to extend the lead further.
Trey Fabrocini rushed three yards for a touchdown to finish off a 12-play, 76-yard drive for the Big Red. The Fabrocini score made it 40-20.
However, McCahill found Ballentine for a two-yard passing touchdown early in the fourth to swell the lead to 47-20.
Denison scored twice in the fourth quarter. A 10-yard pass from Green to Asleson finished off a 12-play, 72-yard drive. The PAT by Daniel Cunningham made it 47-27.
Less than a minute later, Denison pounced on a fumble to give itself good field position in the DePauw end of the field. The Big Red needed just three plays to move 30 yards in 39 seconds to get back into the end zone. Another touchdown run by Fabrocini, a seven-yard score, cut the deficit to 47-34 with 9:12 to play.
However, DePauw was able to chew away at the remainder of the clock. The Tigers tacked on a one-yard touchdown run with 1:37 to play. That score put the final at 53-34.
Green finished with 270 yards passing and two touchdowns. Asleson hauled in nine passes for 134 yards.
Defensively, Nick Pellicciotta finished with a game-high 14 tackles. Michael Ballenger added nine tackles while Layton Reesor added eight stops.
DePauw racked up 489 yards of total offense. Denison finished with 272 overall. Both teams found success on third down. DePauw converted 6-of-9 attempts while Denison made 10-of-15 attempts on third down.
McCahill finished with four touchdown passes and 272 yards. All four passing touchdowns went to Ballentine, who finished with 118 yards receiving.
Up Next: Denison heads into its bye week. They return to action at Wabash College on Saturday, Oct. 2. Kickoff is scheduled for 1 p.m. in Crawfordsville.