Marietta Football Defeats Thiel 28-7
GREENVILLE, Pa. — Big plays from all three facets of the
team propelled Marietta College football to a 28-7 season-opening
victory over host Thiel College Saturday (Sept. 4) afternoon. [Box
Score] [Photo
Gallery]
The win extended the Pioneers' win streak to seven games over the
Tomcats and helped them open the season with a victory for the 15th
time in the last 17 years.
Marietta's offense started slow with a three-and-out on its first
possession. The Pioneers converted a pair of third downs on their
second drive before sophomore quarterback Andrew
Keller (Cincinnati/Glen Este) raced 55 yards for a
touchdown to give his squad the 7-0 advantage with 3:20 to play in
the first quarter.
Thiel was threatening to even the score near the end of the half,
until freshman defensive back Jordan
Ellison (Douglasville, Ga./South Paulding) intercepted a
pass in the end zone in the final minute to preserve the
seven-point advantage as the teams headed into intermission.
The Tomcats finally got on the board in the third quarter. Running
back Ross Gargano raced in from three yards out to tie the game at
7-7 with 5:55 remaining in the period.
The two teams remained locked in a 7-7 battle as the fourth
quarter began. That quickly changed when Keller connected with
junior wide receiver Jahmaal
Jones (Valrico, Fla./Bloomingdale) for a 70-yard
touchdown strike to give the Pioneers back the lead with 12:30 left
to play in the game.
Junior linebacker Joe
Williams (Akron/Archbishop Hoban) intercepted a pass on a
fake punt on Thiel's ensuing possession and returned it 52 yards
for a touchdown to extend Marietta's advantage to 21-7 just two
minutes later.
Pioneer freshman corner back Robert
Brown (Orange Park, Fla./Nathan B. Forrest) then added an
18-yard interception return for a touchdown with 3:38 left on the
clock to cap the scoring at 28-7.
Marietta's offense held the ball for 24:18 and finished with 224
yards of total offense. The Pioneers rushed for 118 yards. Keller
led the ground attack with 11 carries for 62 yards, while sophomore
Tevin
Dones (Oakley, Calif./Antioch) added 17 carries for 43
yards. Keller also completed 7-of-13 passes and threw for 106
yards. Senior wide receiver Cory
Kriechbaum (Marietta/Marietta) pulled in five receptions
for 28 yards, while Jones caught the other two passes totaling 78
yards.
Thiel collected 239 yards of total offense in its 34:52 with the
ball. Quarterback Andrew Smith finished 12-of-31 and threw for 163
yards, while Gargano led the running game with 26 carries for 67
yards. Cash Culver caught a team-best four passes for 27 yards,
while Tyler DeJong had three receptions for 98 yards.
The Pioneer defense produced five interceptions and finished with
10 tackles for loss, including three sacks. Sophomore strong safety
Rahkeem
Caver (Hamilton/Hamilton) and Williams both finished with
a game-high nine total stops. Junior linebacker Dan Starr
(Senecaville/Buckeye Trail) added eight tackles, while senior
defensive end Adam Tate
(Chesterhill/Federal Hocking) had seven hits.
Bobby Shew anchored Thiel's defense with nine total tackles,
including three for loss and two sacks. Tim Taylor added eight
hits, while Hunter Liptrap had five in the loss.
Marietta now turns its attention to rival Muskingum University.
The Fighting Muskies will visit Don Drumm Stadium Sept. 18 for an
Ohio Athletic Conference (OAC)
match-up at 6 p.m. Sept. 18 is Alumni Day and the sixth annual
River City Bowl. It was also be the kick off celebration to the Don
Drumm Stadium Project. A free tailgate will begin behind the
stadium at 4:30 p.m.
WTAP-TV will broadcast the game live and online at http://www.wtap.com. In addition, WMOA-AM 1490 and WMRT-FM 88.3 will
broadcast the game over the airways and online. Live stats will
also be available at http://www.sidearmstats.com/marietta/football/
