HIRAM, OHIO -- Senior Mario Lemuel (Suwanee, Ga./Peachtree Ridge) had three sacks, two interceptions and a forced fumble to lead the Hiram College football team to a 37-26 victory over Denison in its NCAC opener on Saturday night at Henry Field.
The Terriers are now 2-0 overall and 1-0 in NCAC play, while the Big Red fall to 1-1, 0-1.
In all, the Hiram defense recorded six interceptions and also forced two fumbles.
Junior Andrew Torres (Cape Coral, Fla./Mariner) also had two interceptions and senior Matt Moore (Twinsburg/Thomas Worthington) and junior Tevin Weaver (Garfield Heights) each had one.
In addition, junior Zachary Bennett (Newark) and sophomore Zayd Mabin (Winter Haven, Fla.) each had fumble recoveries.
"To force eight turnovers is unbelievable," said head coach Randy Moore. "Every time we were able to get a turnover, our offense would turn it into points."
Hiram came out quick and jumped on the board with 11:23 left in the first quarter.
Freshman Brendon Carr (Wellsville/Wellsville Local) fumbled the ball into the endzone. But senior lineman Kyle Bates (Painsville/Thomas W. Harvey) fell on the ball in the endzone for the touchdown.
After a Torres interception, senior Greg Klisuric (Mentor) converted a 33-yard field goal to put HC up 10-0 midway through the first quarter.
The Terriers would expand their lead to 17-0 when senior quarterback Robert Partridge (Massillon/Massillon Washington) found senior Vinny Polverine (Middlefield/Cardinal) for a three-yard touchdown strike in the closing moments of the first quarter. The touchdown was set up on a 84-yard pass from Partridge to junior Britton Lewis (Tampa, Fla./Paul R. Wharton).
HC would push its lead to 24-0 on a four-yard touchdown run from sophomore David Perkins (Santa Ana, Calif./Segerstrom) early in the second quarter.
Denison would get on the board midway through the second quarter and Hiram took a 24-6 lead into the half.
In the third quarter, Partridge used a nice fake to scamper for a 26-yard touchdown run to push Hiram's lead to 31-6.
Touchdowns on two straight possessions for Denison cut the Hiram lead to 31-19 with 1:41 left in the third quarter.
A 65-yard touchdown from Partridge to Lewis with 10:45 remaining pushed Hiram's lead back to 37-19.
But the Big Red stormed backed with a touchdown to cut the Terrier lead to 37-26 with 5:56 left to play.
Denison would recover the ensuing onside kick and was driving for another score. But Lemuel stepped in and recorded his second interception of the game to seal the win for the Terriers.
Partridge finished the game with 259-yards passing and three total touchdowns and Lewis had four catches for 170-yards and a touchdown.
Freshman running back Danny Robinson (Labelle, Fla.) finished with 14 rushes for 145-yards in the game and Perkins had 70-yards on the ground.
"We did a great job running the ball all night. Our offense and our coaches really have it going," added Moore. "It feels great to be 2-0. We still need to clean up some things. We have goals set for this season, and we continue to get closer to reaching them."
Hiram will return to action on Saturday, when it hosts Allegheny (Pa.) in a NCAC contest at Henry Field at 1 p.m. The game will also be a part of homecoming festivities on campus all weekend.