Game 5 Football Preview
Capital Crusaders (3-1, 2-1) at Marietta Pioneers (3-1, 2-1)
1:30 p.m. Saturday, Oct 9
Don Drumm Stadium • Marietta, Ohio

Oct. 6, 2004
MARIETTA, Ohio - The Pioneers welcome Capital to Don Drumm Stadium Saturday (Oct. 9) for the first Ohio Athletic Conference game on the new FieldTurf. It is also Homecoming for Marietta.

Here is a look at both teams:

Capital University: Head coach Jim Collins’ squad is looking to rebound from a disappointing 49-7 loss at home to No. 1 Mount Union Oct. 2. Quarterback Rocky Pentello (Columbus/Westerville South) tossed his first interception in 102 pass attempts, dating back to last season, on the Crusaders opening possession, which led to a Mount Union touchdown. The score remained 7-0 until 1:08 when the Purple Raiders increased their lead to 14-0. Capital fumbled the ensuing kickoff and Mount Union was able to score again before half. Capital finally cracked the scoreboard with 5:24 left in the game on a one-yard run from Charlie Smith (Westerville/Big Walnut). Pentello finished the day 21-of-42 for 228 yards, while Smith had 27 yards on seven carries to lead the Capital offense. Joel Ruetty (Marysville) had a game-high 11 tackles on defense. The loss was only the fourth loss for the Crusaders at Bernlohr Stadium. Last week, Pentello became just the third Capital Quarterback to throw for more than 4,000 yards in a career. He stands third on the school’s all-time list with 4,074 yards.

Marietta College: The Pioneers are hoping to carry the momentum gained from a come-from-behind 24-23 victory on the road against Otterbein Saturday into today’s battle with Capital. Marietta enters the game with the OAC’s sixth ranked offense, averaging 17.9 points per game. The defense is allowing 14.8 points per game, the fourth best in the league. Chris Sidick (Cecil, PA/Canon McMillan) leads MC’s kick-return attack, which ranks best in the league in both kickoff and punt returns. He averages 13.1 yards per punt and 39.5 yards per kickoff return. Sidick returned a kickoff 88 yards for a score last week, his second of his career. It was the longest return for a Pioneer since Steven Wagner’s (Harwick, PA/Fox Chapel ) 94-yard touchdown return in 2002. Wagner leads the ground game for Marietta, which ranks third in the conference. The junior averages 122.8 yards per game with three touchdown. The Pioneers’ red zone offense is also best in the league, converting 8-of-10 chances (five touchdowns & three field goals). Sophomore Jason Vrable (South Park, PA) has completed 46-of-76 attempts for 463 yards, two touchdowns and four interceptions. He has also collected 38 yards and two more scores rushing. Mike Valiante (Wadsworth) leads the team with 15 receptions for 95 yards, while Sidick added nine catches for 119 yards in the win over Otterbein, his first game on offense as a Pioneer. Defensively, Marietta is led by senior Thadd Sharrett (Circleville) with 29 and freshman Clay Ream (Burbank/Northwestern) with 28 tackles, respectively. Anthony Huffman (Lowell/Marietta) has collected four of Marietta’s 16 sacks, which is second best in the league. He and senior Brett Munn (Newbury) have also added 27 stops on defense. Bobby Lemasters (Winfield, WV) has converted 3-of-5 field goals on the year.

Series: Saturday marks the 74th meeting between the Crusaders and the Pioneers on the gridiron. Capital leads the all-time series, dating back to 1927, 43-28-2. Marietta has lost three in a row to Capital.

Last meeting: Capital jumped out to a 44-0 lead in last season’s match-up, before Marietta scored 13 points in the third period. The game ended with the Crusaders picking up a 46-13 victory. Rocky Pentello threw for a career-high 387 yards and four touchdowns in the win. CU’s 636 total yards of offense was the second-highest single game total in school history. MC’s Jason Vrable connected on 13-of-24 passes for 143 yards and two touchdowns in the loss.

About the coaches: Marietta’s Todd Glaser (UW-Eau Claire ‘93) enters his second season with the Pioneers, after guiding the team to a 2-8 mark last year. He has already surpassed last year’s win total with wins over Dubuque, Heidelberg and Otterbein. He is MC’s 26th coach and has a record of 5-9. Prior to joining Marietta, Glaser was the defensive coordinator at UW-Eau Claire for four seasons. Capital’s Jim Collins (Wittenberg ‘88) is in his 8th season with the Crusaders. He has a 33-41 mark with his current team after finishing with a school-record eight wins a year ago. Prior to joining Capital in 1997, Collins spent three seasons as the head coach at Dubuque (IA)

Noteworthy: The Pioneers are in search of victory number four this week, the most wins in a season since 1998. ...Marietta has not started the season 4-1 since 1996, when it began 5-1 and finished 7-3 overall. ...The last time these two teams met on Marietta’s Homecoming was in 2000 when the Pioneers celebrated a 52-21 victory. ...Capital sits 12th in the d3football.com Top 25 poll, No. 19 in the AFCA Coaches Poll and No. 30 in the Don Hansen Football Gazette Poll.

Great Coverage: Today’s football game is being broadcast live by WMRT - FM 88.3, Marietta College’s campus radio station. Their broadcast can also be heard live online at www.mariettaonline.com. Capital will also be broadcasting over the internet at www.capitalcruasders.net/broadcast.

Next game: The Pioneers will travel to Alliance to battle top ranked Mount Union Saturday (Oct. 16) at 1:30 p.m. The Crusaders will host Muskingum the same day at 1:30 p.m.

Marietta’s probable starters:

Offense
QB      —            16            Jason Vrable
TB       —            20            Steven Wagner
FB       —            44            Corey Jacobs
WR     —            14            Jason Curry
WR     —            82            Mike Valiante
TE       —            80            Bryan Adams
LT       —            66            Gary Snyder
LG       —            60            Jack Simpson
C         —            64            Joe Brennan
RG      —            76            Lance Parrish
RT       —            79            Kellen Dunlap

Defense
DT       —            50          Pete Hashman
NT       —            98         Clay Ream
DT       —            94          Jeff Mast
OLB    —            41          Anthony Huffman
ILB      —            52          Brian Hahn
ILB      —            7            Eric Workman
OLB    —            39          Nate Brownrigg
CB      —            25          J. J. Wheeler
CB      —            2            Brett Munn
FS       —            3           Thadd Sharrett
SS       —            9            Anthony Banks