GAMBIER — Benedictine’s Tanner Mateus drilled a 33-yard, game-winning field goal in overtime Saturday to hand Kenyon a 34-31 season-opening loss in Gambier.
Tanner’s boot represented the only points of the fourth quarter in a wild, see-saw affair.
It marked the first college football game for Kenyon since the 2019 season after the COVID-19 pandemic wiped out the 2020 campaign.
The Lords took a 3-0 lead in the first quarter on Rocco Denese’s 27-yard field goal. But Tanner countered with his own 30-yard boot to make it 3-3 heading to the second period.
Tyler Jarnagin rifled a 53-yard TD pass to Nick Shelton with 2:17 showing in the half to give the Eagles a 10-3 advantage heading to intermission.
The scoring came in see-saw, rapid-fire fashion after that.
Finn Murray’s 1-yard TD plunge tied the game at 10-10 early in the third period, but Benedictine’s Gregory Hoard ran 27 yards for a score to make it 17-10.
Kenyon answered when A.J. Allen dropped a 50-yard scoring toss into the hands of Andrew Schnarre at the 3:08 mark of the third period. Yet on the final play of the period, Nathan Rillo’s 4-yard touchdown dash gave Benedictine a 24-17 margin heading to the fourth quarter.
Moments later, Allen scored on a 1-yard sneak to tie the game at 24 apiece.
But the Lords’ simply couldn’t stop Benedictine when they had to. Jarnagin’s 2-yard TD pass to Nick Shelton pushed the Eagles ahead 31-24 with 9:31 showing.
Still, Murray’s 27-yard touchdown strike to Schnarre on a halfback pass knotted it again with 7:25 to play.
Kenyon had a chance to win it at the end of regulation, but a 36-yard field goal was blocked.
In overtime, The Lords were stopped on their possession and Mateus ended it.
The Falcons won the statistical battle, with more first downs (28-20), yards rushing (170-81), passing (309-272), total offense (479-353), third-down conversions (10-19 to 3-11) and time of possession (32:37 to 27:23).
For Kenyon, Allen completed 17-of-27 passes for 245 yards and a TD. Schnarre had 4 catches for 131 yards and 2 touchdowns. The Lords managed just 2.2 yards per carry and only 81 yards rushing.
Kenyon travels to Wooster next Saturday for a 1 p.m. kickoff.
