GAMBIER, Ohio – The Gators turned in their most complete performance of the 2018 season in a convincing 54-10 win over Kenyon in North Coast Athletic Conference action at McBride Field.
 
Senior quarterback Logan Lee threw for 368 yards and five touchdowns to lead a Gator (4-3, 4-2 NCAC) offense that produced 532 yards, while the Allegheny defense forced six Kenyon (0-7, 0-6 NCAC) turnovers and limited the Lords to just 241 yards of total offense.
 
A pair of Allegheny junior receivers posted 100-yard days, as Dwaine Barber hauled in seven catches for 131 yards and two touchdowns, and Alex Victor six grabs for 121 yards and a score. On the ground, senior Tyler Balla produced his fourth 100-yard effort of the season, rushing for 111 yards and a pair of touchdowns.
 
Defensively, the Gators tallied five interceptions, their most in a game since a seven-interception performance on Sept. 29, 1998 vs. Earlham. Allegheny also limited the Lords to just 23 rushing yards for the game, the fewest surrendered in a game by the Gators since a Nov. 11, 2011 win over Oberlin.
 
The Gators wasted little time in taking an early lead. On the opening drive of the game, Chase Balla's third down sack backed up Kenyon inside its own 20. After the ensuing punt set the Gators up at their own 43, Lee opened with a 20-yard strike to Victor on Allegheny's first play from scrimmage, before two snaps later, the two would hook up again for a 31-yard touchdown to give the visitors a 7-0 lead just four minutes into play.
 
Kenyon's ensuing trip ended in their first interception of the day, with Clarence Long returning the pick inside the Lords' 33. The Gator offense would turn it over on downs, but got the ball back three plays later, when Chase Balla intercepted a Thomas Merkle pass and returned it to the Kenyon 20.
 
The Gators didn't find the end zone following the turnover, but did find the scoreboard, as Zach Bednarowicz buried a 30-yard field goal to go up 10-0 with 3:46 left in the first quarter.
 
The defense produced its third interception of the day on the final play of the opening quarter, when Quinten Hunt picked off his third pass of the season and returned it to the Kenyon 12 yardline.  Tyler Balla would take it from there, carrying the ball three straight times, capped off with a one-yard plunge into the end zone on the second play of the second quarter to give Allegheny a 17-0 lead.
 
Kenyon would follow with another three-and-out, but a 57-yard punt backed up the Gators to their own 20. They would then use a healthy mix of the pass and the run to embark on their most productive drive of the afternoon. On third-and-12, Lee kept the drive alive with a 30-yard completion to Barber to move to midfield, before rushed from Tyler Balla and Victor would set up first down at the Kenyon 39. The Lords would then force a fumble that was recovered by Allegheny but resulted in a 10-yard loss, but Lee would complete a 15-yarder to Victor and a 16-yarder to Barber to move into the red zone. Two plays later, on third-and-four from the 14, Lee hooked up with Ben Bachik in the end zone for the touchdown to cap off the 12-play, 80-yard drive and put the Gators up 24-0 with 8:57 left in the second quarter.
 
A 33-yard return on the ensuing kickoff set up the Lords at midfield, and they would eventually move to the Allegheny 35, where they faced fourth and one. The Gator defense came up with another big stop, forcing Kenyon's fourth turnover of the game when Corey Laskey pounced on a fumble to give the ball back to the Gators.
 
Allegheny's ensuing drive stalled at the Kenyon eight, but Bednarowicz would nail his second field goal of the half, this one from 25 yards out, to give the Gators a 27-0 lead with just under five minutes left in the quarter.
 
Kenyon found the scoreboard on its next trip with a 23-yard field goal from Ryan Cooper with 1:59 to go, but Lee and the Gators would end the half on a high note.
 
Lee opened Allegheny's final drive of the half with a 43-yard completion to Tristan Rhoades to move to the Kenyon 38. before a seven-yard pass to Barber and an eight-yard run from Tyler Balla set up first down at the Kenyon 23.  Lee would then go back to Barber, as the tall veteran pulled in a 23-yard touchdown pass to close out the half and give Allegheny a 34-3 lead.
 
Allegheny picked up right where it left off to open the third quarter. After Rhoades returned the opening kick of the half 36 yards to midfield, Lee opened the half with a 23-yard pass to Victor, before going back to Rhoades for a 10-yard gain to give the Gators first down at the Kenyon 17.  Balla would then run twice for 12 yards, before Lee found Bachik in the end zone for the second time to make the score 41-3 three minutes into the third quarter.
 
After taking over on their own 18 following another long Kenyon punt, the Gators would embark on a 10-play, 82-yard drive that was capped off with Tyler Balla's second rushing touchdown of the day, an eight-yard run that made it 48-3 with 5:20 left in the quarter.  On the scoring drive, Balla ran four times for 26 yards, while Lee also completed a 23-yard pass to Victor and a 16-yarder to Barber.
 
Kenyon found the end zone on its next trip, with Merkle completing a 66-yard touchdown to Ian Robertson with 3:30 left in the quarter, but the Gators answered right back.
 
Rhoades returned the kickoff 29 yards to the Allegheny 35, and was aided by a 15-yard infraction on Kenyon that moved the ball to midfield.  Following a 19-yard pass to Rhoades and a 10-yard run from Tyler Balla, Lee hooked up with Barber for a 20-yard touchdown with 50 seconds left in the quarter to give the Gators a 54-10 lead and close out the game's scoring.
 
In the fourth quarter, Kenyon put together a pair of lengthy drives, but Allegheny's defense ended each one prematurely, as Grayson Lee tallied his first career interception with 8:35 left in regulation, before Charles Ross picked off his second pass of the season with four minutes to go.
 
Lee ended with 19 completions on 31 attempts for 368 yards and five touchdowns. It marks the third career 5-touchdown performance for the Gators' all-time career leader, while the 368 yards are the fifth-most in a game in team history.  It was Lee's fifth career game with over 300 passing yards.
 
With his 111 yards on the ground, Tyler Balla eclipsed the 2,000-yard mark for his career, as his total now stands at 2,089. It was Balla's ninth career 100-yard rushing performance.
 
Defensively, Kyle McGee led Allegheny with seven total tackles, including one sack and 1.5 tackles for loss. Zach Martin added five tackles and a half TFL, while also breaking up a pass. In all, the Gators totaled eight TFLs and four sacks, with McGee, Austin Hoyt, and Chase Balla each credited with one quarterback takedown, and Laskey and Timen Mason each assisting on one.
 
For Kenyon, Merkle completed 16 of 36 passes for 185 yards and three interceptions. Robertson, the leading receiver in the NCAC, was Merkle's favorite target, catching eight balls for 110 yards.  Sam Dickey made a game-high 14 tackles for the Lords, including one sack, while Justus Brown had seven tackles, with one TFL.
 
The Gators will now return home to face DePauw on Sat. Oct. 27 at 1 p.m. on Homecoming and Blue and Gold Weekend at Frank B. Fuhrer Field.