Box Score RICHMOND, Ind. — A pair of second quarter touchdowns provided Anderson University an edge Saturday afternoon that the Earlham College football squad couldn't overcome as the Quakers fell 56-20 to the Ravens in Darrell Beane Stadium.

"We had a slow start offensively, but we had two really nice drives that ended up being turnovers and one went for a touchdown,” Earlham Head Coach Gerry Keesling said. “We have got to perform better on offense and stop them on defense.”

“We've got better,” Keesling added. “We did some nice things out there today, but at some inopportune times, we did some not so good things.”
 
"We're trying to figure out who we are,” Keesling went on to say. “We're trying to get a win, we're trying to perform out there on the field, and we've yet to do that, so we're going to continue to battle, continue to work and at some point it will click.”

After Anderson had taken a 7-0 lead with 7:47 left in the opening period, the Earlham defense brought the Quakers back into the contest.

Sean Gardner (Connersville, IN, Connersville) stripped the ball from Anderson quarterback Mitch Grider and raced 62 yards for a score that would tie the first Heartland Collegiate Athletic Conference contest at Earlham.

But a 95-yard interception return by Anderson's Kaleb Donohue turned the tide in favor of the Ravens at 14-7 with 9:38 remaining in the first half. Anderson's last score of the frame came at 2:10.

In the second half, Anderson (1-3, 1-1) scored on its first possession to go on top 28-7 at the 12:57 mark.

After the two teams exchanged punts, the Quakers closed the gap on a 29-yard run by Nick Cummings (Rolling Prairie, IN, New Prairie) to make it 28-14 with 9:01 left in the third period.

Unfortunately for the Quakers, Anderson responded with a 13-play, 64-yard drive that ended with a score to make it 35-14 with 3:20 remaining in the third quarter.

The Ravens scored on their next possession and built a 42-14 advantage with 11:22 left in the contest.

The Quakers did respond with a 9-play, 54-yard drive to cut the lead to 42-20. Earlham quarterback Dorian Jenkins (Indianapolis, IN, Arlington) hooked up with Kyle Ripperger (Richmond, IN, Richmond) on a 29-yard scoring play with 7:18 left.

That was a close as the Quakers could get as the Ravens added a pair of scores at the end of the contest with the last coming on an 82-yard interception return by Donohue.

Jenkins was 10-of-18 for 102 yards and on touchdown, while Ripperger led the receivers with four grabs for 81 yards and a score. Cummings finished with 69 yards rushing on 14 carries with a touchdown.

Gardner led Earlham's defense with nine tackles including two sacks and another stop behind the line of scrimmage. Josh Lewis (Newburgh, IN, Castle) and Dorian Stroud (South Bend, IN, Adams) added eight tackles each.

Earlham (0-4, 0-2) is back at home next Saturday against Bluffton University. The HCAC contest begins at 1:30 p.m.