MARIETTA, Ohio — Marietta College forced five Heidelberg turnovers, including a pick-6, in a dominating 37-14 win over the Student Princes on Homecoming Saturday (Oct. 21). The Pioneers improve to 5-2 overall and 4-2 in the Ohio Athletic Conference. Heidelberg falls to 4-3 on the season and 3-3 in the OAC.
"Heidelberg is a good team and they have a good defense. It was tough sledding in the run game today," Marietta head coach Andy Waddle said. "Connor (Vierstra) had a fairly high completion percentage and threw for 300 yards and four touchdowns and Bryce (Agnew) got some hard yards, but we still had some mistakes.
"Defensively, we were able to come up with five turnovers and a score. We kept pressure on their quarterback. I thought the defense did a good job. Harley (Hopkins) had a big interception early in the game and Jaelon (Quiero-Gordon) had the interception and score."
Marietta took the opening kickoff and drove to the Heidelberg 11-yard line before stalling and settled for a 28-yard Derek Cline field goal.
On the ensuing possession, Heidelberg quarterback Gavin Reineke threw the first of four interceptions in the game. Harley Hopkins picked off the pass and returned it to the Berg 30-yard line.
The Pioneers needed just three plays to reach paydirt as Connor Vierstra connected with John Sierputowki on a 23-yard scoring strike. Cline added the point after for a 10-0 Marietta lead with 6:21 left in the first quarter.
Marietta added two scores in the second quarter. Vierstra hit Derek Witsberger on a 2-yard touchdown pass and then hooked up with Dre Baldwin on a 5-yard touchdown pass for a 24-0 halftime lead.
The problems continued for Heidelberg in the third quarter. On the Student Princes' first possession of the second half, Jaelon Quiero-Gordon took the ball away from a Berg receiver and returned it 55-yards for a Pioneer touchdown.
Heidelberg responded with its best drove of the game taking the kickoff and moving 75 yards on seven plays for their first ponts of the game. Montavious Yearby capped the drive with a 12-yard touchdown run. Branden Steckel added the extra point.
Turnovers on three consecutive plays made for an ugly end to the third quarter. Heidelberg fumbled a Pioneer punt which was recovered by Anthony Sabatino. On Marietta's first play, Vierstra was sacked and fumbled the ball back to the Student Princes. Reineke gave the ball back to Marietta on the next play when he was intercepted by Blade Barclay.
Marietta extended its lead to 37-7 early in the fourth quarter. Vierstra capped a 5-play, 35-yard drive with his second touchdown pass to Sierputowski. This time for 18 yards.
The Student Princes finished off the scoringwhen backup quarterback Lance Rickle completed a 20-yard touchdown pass to Matthew Drdul with nine minutes left in the game.
Vierstra completed 21-of-27 passes for 303 yards and four touchdowns. Baldwin caught seven passes for 96 yards and one score, while Sierputowski had six catches for 79 yards and two touchdowns.
Heidelberg's defense held Pioneer running back Bryce Agnew to just 35 yards rushing on 17 carries. Agnew did have two catches for 61 yards in the game.
Reineke completed 13-of-22 passes for 136 yards. He was picked off four times. Rickle finished 7-for-11 for 86 yards and one touchdown. Yearby carried the ball 17 times for 71 yards and one touchdown.
Hopkins and Brady Panucci led the Pioneer defense with 12 and 11 tackles, respectively. Hopkins had one interception, while Panucci and 1.5 tackles for a loss. The Pioneers had 10 tackles for a loss in the game, including 3.0 sacks.
Marietta plays at Ohio Northern University next Saturday (Oct. 28). Kickoff is set for 2 p.m.