WMVO Good Times Great Oldies
CLEVELAND, Ohio — The final week of the Kenyon College football team’s 2024 season shared a pair of positive parallels to the squad’s first week: an Owls victory followed by Athlete of the Week honors for Tyler Bell. Just like week one, a Bell boot helped Kenyon clinch a win on its home field, and the North Coast Athletic Conference (NCAC) chose the Owls’ kicker as the league’s Offensive Athlete of the Week for football for a second time.
Bell brought home his second weekly award after his leg led the Owls to a win over Ohio Wesleyan University. The sophomore scored seven of the team’s 13 points thanks to two field goals and an extra point, and he hit the game-winning kick to clinch a one-point, 13-12 win in Kenyon’s season finale. The game-winner was an electric moment at McBride Field, and the impressive 45-yard kick marked a career-long for Bell and was Kenyon’s longest field goal since a matching 45-yarder by Szabi Simo over 10 years ago in 2014, also against Ohio Wesleyan.
Bell did well to bounce back after his first field goal attempt of the game was blocked as he also added an important 38-yarder that put the Owls on the board. With his second conference award, Bell became the first Kenyon football player since 2012 to win multiple NCAC Athlete of the Week awards in the same season. The sophomore made a major impact this year, posting three games with two field goals and connecting on an accurate 13-of-14 extra-point attempts.
Bell’s kicking, combined with the team’s strong all-around play, helped the Owls clinch a .500 record for the first time since 2012 as Kenyon finished 2024 with a 5-5 (4-4 NCAC) record. The victory also marked the first time since 2009 that Kenyon had beaten the Battling Bishops.
