Game Leaders
Team Stats
Passing Yards
Rushing Yards
Turnovers
Time of Poss.
MARIETTA, Ohio — After falling behind 10-0 in the first quarter, Marietta College responded with 20 straight points and went to defeat Otterbein University by the score of 47-31 Saturday (Sept. 13) evening at Don Drumm Stadium. The Pioneers improve to 2-0 overall and 1-0 in the Ohio Athletic Conference. The Cardinals fall to 0-2 overall and 0-1 in the OAC.
"When we were focused, we were able to move the effectively. Vante' (Hodges) showed again how special he is. When you have a guy getting that many yards it's kudos to the offensive line and the tight end," Marietta head coach Tom Kaufman said. " I kept telling everybody that there are no easy wins in the OAC. Otterbein is not a bad football team, and we did what we needed to do to win the game."
Otterbein took the opening kickoff and drove to the Marietta 6-yard line before settling for a 24-yard field goal from Braylon Balandra. The Cardinals forced Marietta to punt on its first possession and then went on a 12-play, 76-yard scoring drive. Troy Montgomery ran it in from three yards out for the touchdown. Balandra added the extra point for a 10-0 Otterbein lead.
Marietta wasted no time finding the endzone on the ensuing possession. Senior running back took the first play from scrimmage and ran it 65-yards for a touchdown. The extra point was blocked.
After forcing a three and out for the Cardinals, Marietta needed just four plays to find the endzone and take the lead. Antwon Johnson hit John Sierputowski on a 29-yard touchdown pass for the score. Nathaniel Demuth added the extra point making it 13-10 in favor of the Pioneers.
Marietta again forced Otterbein to punt and then put the ball back into Hodges' hands and he broke free for a 66-yard touchdown run. With the extra point, the Pioneers led 20-10.
The teams traded touchdowns in the final minutes of the first half. Otterbein capped a 6-play, 70-yard drive with a 36-yard pass from Brayden Bayles to Zane Duning. Marietta countered with an 8-play, 74-yard drive that ended with a 22-yard Johnson scoring run making it 27-17 at halftime.
Otterbein opened the second half scoring with a 1-yard Bayles run. Johnson responded with a 2-yard touchdown run. Following another Otterbein score, Hodges broke his third long run of the game going 64 yards for the touchdown. Marietta closed out the scoring with a 12-yard pass from Johnson to Matthew Krutowskis.
Hodges carried the ball 16 times for a career-high 306 yards and three touchdowns. The Pioneers rushed for 389 total yards. Benny Lewis had seven carries for 43 yards and Johnson finished with 41 yards on five carries.
Johnson completed 6-of-16 passes for 108 yards and two touchdowns. Kenyon Franklin caught three passes for 58 yards.
Harley Hopkins led the Pioneer defense with 15 tackles. Brady McManaway, Taison Starr, and Lukas Ratliff each had 10 tackles in the game.
Marietta is off next weekend and then travels to Capital University on Saturday (Sept. 27) for a 1:30 p.m. kickoff.