UNIVERSITY HEIGHTS, Ohio — John Carroll University took advantage of a turnover on the opening kickoff to grab an early lead en route to a 34-10 win over Marietta College Friday (March 26) evening in Ohio Athletic Conference football action. Marietta falls to 1-1 overall and 1-1 in the OAC, while the Blue Streaks improve to 2-1 on the season and 2-1 in the OAC.
John Carroll won the toss and elected to defer to the second half leaving the Pioneers to receive the opening kickoff. Tay Pryor took the kick and fumbled it when hit by JCU's Michael Palmer. The Blue Streaks recovered the loose ball on the Marietta 24-yard line.
Three rushes moved the ball to the 12-yard line. On second down Jake Floriea connected with Kenny Cross for the touchdown less than three minutes into the game. Andy Han added the extra point for a 7-0 John Carroll lead.
Marietta responded with its best drive of the first half. The Pioneers started on their own 25-yard line used a balance attack to move the ball to the John Carroll 17-yard line before having to settle for a 34-yard Logan Alward. Ethan Brown completed 3-of-4 passes on the drive for 26 yards. A pass interference call on JCU aided the Pioneer drive.
John Carroll pushed its lead to 13-3 on its next possession. Floriea completed five passes for 39 yards and rushed for 10 more on the drive. He hit Keyshawn Colmon on a 14-yard scoring strike. Han's kick was blocked by Malik Grier.
Floriea threw his third touchdown pass of the game early in the second quarter extending the Blue Streak lead to 20-3. Devin Limerick caught a 17-yard pass for the touchdown and Han added the PAT for the final points of the first half.
After a scoreless third quarter John Carroll scored the first points of the second half when Demerius Goodwin broke a 27-yard run for a touchdown with 12:47 left in the game. Han added the point after for a 27-3 lead.
An unnecessary roughness call against John Carroll on the kickoff set up Marietta at its own 40-yard line. Two Brown completions, one to Bobby Cashaw for 14 yards and one to Dominick Glenn for 15 yards, and a defensive holding call moved the ball to the Blue Streak 21-yard line.
A holding call moved Marietta back to the 31-yard line. But Brown answered with a 14-yard completion to Gage Giovengo and then hooked up with Dre Baldwin on a 17-yard touchdown pass. Alward's extra point cut the deficit to 27-10 with 10:52 left on the clock.
Marietta stopped John Carroll's next drive deep in Pioneer territory when Vic Giovengo forced a fumble that was recovered by Kyler Folkert at the MC 24-yards line.
Following a short 3-yard completion and a pair of incomplete passes, Marietta faced a fourth down and seven on it's own 27-yard line. Trailing by 17 points with less than four minutes on the clock, the Pioneers were forced to go for it and Brown's pass to Logan Domer fell incomplete giving the ball back to John Carroll.
Marietta's defense held the Blue Streaks on four downs and got the ball back with 1:12 on the clock. On second down, Brown completed a pass to Baldwin but he fumbled the ball and John Carroll's Alec Wallace scooped up the loose ball and returned it for a touchdown. Han's kick made it 34-10.
Brown finished the game 15-of-29 for 146 yards and one touchdown. Baldwin had five catches for 47 yards and one score, while Nate Hinckley caught five passes for 38 yards. Bryce Agnew had 16 carries for 74 yards. Vic Giovengo led the Pioneer defense with 13 tackles.
Floriea completed 17-of-19 passes for 142 yards and three touchdowns. He was picked off once. Colman had four catches for 47 yards and one touchdown. Goodwin finished with 19 carries for 100 yards and one score. Matthew Buser had 22 carries for 109 yards.
Marietta travels to Alliance next Friday (April 2) for a 7 p.m. kickoff at the University of Mount Union.