Football

Mike Barnes returned a kickoff 96-yards for a touchdown in the 3rd Quarter on Saturday.

Box Score

GRANVILLE- Brandon Branner threw three touchdown passes and Zak Thornton rushed 32 times for 162 yards as Randolph-Macon spoiled Denison's 1000th game in program history with a 42-16 victory at Deeds Field-Piper Stadium.

Randolph-Macon took an 18-9 lead into halftime but took all of the momentum with them following a 29-yard touchdown pass from Braner to Rod Nelson just one second before time expired in the second quarter.

Prior to the buzzer-beater by Braner, Denison pieced together a 12-play 67-yard drive that ended with an 11-yard touchdown pass from Tom Simeone to Mike Brienzo.

Denison's other points in the first half came via a 33-yard field goal by freshman Kevin Schneider.

In the second half, the Yellow Jackets took a 25-9 lead after a 12-yard run by Thornton that capped off an 11-play drive. The DU defense would hold Randolph-Macon scoreless the rest of the quarter, but a Spencer Bolen 30-yard field goal bumped the Jackets up to a 19-point lead.

On the ensuing kickoff junior cornerback Mike Barnes took the ball at his own 4-yard line and raced up the middle of the Randolph-Macon kick off coverage, eluding the final potential tackler at the opponents' 40-yard line, resulting in a crowd-pleasing 96-yard kickoff return for a touchdown. The kickoff touchdown was the first by a Denison player since 1990.

Now trailing 28-16, Denison needed a quick stop on defense but the Yellow Jackets put together another methodical, 10-play drive that resulted in a 5-yard TD pass from Braner to Scott Pickett, putting the game out of reach at 35-16. Nelson would tack on his third receiving TD of the day with 7:48 to play when he caught a 26-yard scoring strike from Tyler Ball.

Denison finished with 176 total yards while Randolph-Macon grinded out 461 yards. Braner was 15-of-31 for 223 yards and three scores. Nelson caught 7 passes for 115 yards and three touchdowns while Thornton led all rushers with 162 yards.

The Big Red was paced on the ground by junior Jon Berg who finished with 12 carries for 53 yards, highlighted by his 46-yard scamper on the game's opening play. Simeone was 10-of22 for 80 yards with one touchdown and one interception. Brienzo led the DU receiving corps with three catches for 33 yards and one TD.

Defensively, Joe Ulrey led DU with eight tackles and one interception.Drew Homyk notched seven tackles, six of which were solo and sophomore John Zanner also recorded seven stops. Randolph-Macon was led by Kyle Wiggins' nine tackles and two tackles for a loss.

Denison will return to action next Saturday night when they travel to Cleveland, Ohio for a 7 p.m. kickoff against Case Western Reserve. The Big Red's next home game is Sept. 22 at 2 p.m. against Gallaudet.