Th Big Red have plenty to celebrate following their 25-10 win at Earlham.

Trailing 10-6 at halftime, the Big Red outscored Earlham College 19-0 over the final two quarters of play to top the Quakers 25-10 in a cold and blustery season finale from Richmond, Ind.

The victory closes out Denison's season at 6-4, which matches their best overall record (also achieved in 1990 and 2004) since their North Coast Athletic Conference championship team in 1986.  The Big Red accomplished their second winning season under head coach Nick Fletcher by playing well down the stretch.  Faced with a 1-3 record on Oct. 4, Denison would go on to win five of their final six contests, resulting in a 4-3 conference mark.

Trailing 7-0 after Earlham's opening possession resulted in a Randy Kerns touchdown pass to Austin Manahan, DU would fight through a pair of blocked kicks and an interception to trail 10-6 entering the locker room.

DU's opening possession of the second half would result in a punt, but DU would pin the Quakers on their own 6-yard line.  After four plays and a holding penalty on the Quakers, the Big Red would take over on the Quaker 28-yard line. 

Senior quarterback Mike Barnes (Gates Mills, Ohio/Mayfield) would make quick work of the excellent field possession when he hooked up with junior Brandon Taylor (Cincinnati, Ohio/Anderson) from 23-yards out on 2nd and 5.  The point after failed and Denison held their first lead of the day at 12-10.

Earlham would take over on their own 17-yard line and the Big Red defense answered with another three-and-out.  This time Earlham's punt covered just 27 yards and DU once again had picture-perfect field possession.

The offense went to junior Nick Krempasky (San Clemente, Calif./San Clemente) on seven out of eight offensive plays during the drive and the California native would deliver with a 4-yard TD run with 2:38 to play in the third quarter.  Denison's two-point conversion attempt would fail to run the score to 18-10.

With the Quakers hoping to regain some momentum on their ensuing drive, junior safety Drew Homyk (Chicago, Ill./St. Ignatius Prep) delivered a knock out blow to the Earlham offense with his interception of Kerns on the Earlham 40-yard line.

Denison took over and handed off to senior tailback Jon Berg (Washington, Pa./Trinity) five times, resulting in a 5-yard TD run for Berg in what would be the final score of the afternoon.

Berg and Krempasky were exactly the workhorses the Denison offense needed on a day when field conditions and weather played such an enormous factor.  Berg logged 25 carries in his final collegiate game and rushed for a game-high 150 yards and two touchdowns.  Krempasky toted the ball 24 times for 91 yards and a touchdown.

The Denison defense would take care of the rest as they held Earlham to 162 yards of total offense.  In the second half the Quakers managed just 40 total yards and 3 yards rushing.  Senior defensive end and Academic All-America candidate Tim Dukovich (Gibsonia, Pa./Hampton) led the way with seven total tackles, three tackles for a loss and two sacks.  Sophomore Tyler Lambert (Ranger, Ga./Gordon Central) and Homyk notched the team's 16th and 17th interceptions of the season and Caleb McFerren (Zanesville, Ohio/Zanesville) chipped in four tackles and one pass deflection.

A large senior class, 17 members strong, were involved in their final collegiate game.  Offensively none have made a bigger impact on the program than Berg and Barnes.  Today was Berg's eighth career 100-yard rushing game and his fourth of this season.  He leaves Denison with 2,391 yards rushing and 21 touchdowns.

Since taking over at quarterback in week three of the 2007 season, Barnes has thrown for 1,940 yards, rushed for 844 yards and accounted for 25 touchdowns.