Game 9 Football Preview
Baldwin-Wallace (6-2, 5-2) at Marietta Pioneers (5-3, 4-3 OAC)
1:30 p.m. Saturday, Nov. 6
Don Drumm Stadium • Marietta, Ohio

Nov. 6, 2004
MARIETTA, Ohio - The Pioneers welcome Baldwin-Wallace to Don Drumm Stadium this Saturday (Nov. 6) for a week nine match-up. It is Senior Day for Marietta, the final home game of 2004, as well as the 35th annual Shrine Game.

Here is a look at both teams:

Baldwin-Wallace College: After eight games, Brandon Hedges leads the team and the OAC with 181 carries for 1,016 rushing yards and 13 touchdowns. Hedges is tied for the team lead in receiving with 19 catches for 157 yards and leads the OAC in scoring (78 points) and all-purpose yards (1,173 yards). Sophomore Mike DiAngelo has completed 97-of-182 passes (53.3 %) for 1,143 yards with eight touchdowns and eight interceptions. The receiving corps are led by Nate Wilder, David Peterson, Dave Ehrman and Gary Kopchak. Peterson has 14 catches to tie Wilder for the second. Wilder has 14 grabs for 147 yards and a team-leading five TD.  Kopchak has 12 catches for 184 yards and a TD. Ehrman has 11 catches for 183 yards and one TD. Defensively, Joe George tops the team with 68 tackles, including 4.5 for loss. Junior Justin Princehorn is second with 62 tackles, including 6.5 for loss. Ryan Lewis has the most QB sacks with seven for 48 yards in losses. He also tops the team with 11.5 total tackles for losses of 59 yards. On special teams, punter Kevin Soflkanics is averaging an OAC-leading 42.4 yards per punt in 48 attempts with a long punt of 66 yards and 19 landing inside the opponent's 20-yard line. Placekicker Aaron Redd is 20-of-23 in PAT kicks and three-of-five in field goal attempts.  Brad Rhoden tops all punt returners with 13 returns for a 15.0-yard average and seven kick returns for a 22.9-yard average.

Last week for B-W: The Yellow Jackets lost for the second week in a row, this time 24-7 to No. 1 Mount Union in Berea. Hedges ran for a team-high 111 yards in 21 attempts and scored on a 58-yard run. Junior linebackers Joe George and Justin Princehorn combined for 25 tackles, including a game-high 13 by George.

Marietta College: Junior Steven Wagner is enters week nine with 807 yards on 157 carries. His 100.9 yards per game ranks second in the OAC. Wagner has also added six touchdowns. Sophomore Jason Vrable has completed 86-of-138 passes for 900 yards with four TD and four interceptions. He has also rushed for 52 yards in 41 attempts with two TD. Seniors Mike Valiante and Chris Sidick lead the receivers. Valiante tops the Pioneers with 22 catches for 147 yards. Sidick, who has 21 tackles on defense, has 19 grabs for 218 yards and a TD. He has also rushed the ball 14 times for 143 yards and two TD. Senior Bobby Lemasters has converted five of nine field goals and 15 of 18 PATs. Jason Curry is the punter and averages 36.4 yards per boot in 49 attempts with 13 punts landing inside the opponents 20-yard line. Defensively, senior Thadd Sharrett is the top tackler with 67 stops, which ranks eighth in the league. Brett Munn is fourth in tackles with 49 and tops the squad with four interceptions, which is tied for third in the OAC. Sophomore Anthony Hoffman has the most QB sacks with five for 36 yards in losses. Sidick leads the Conference with an average of 24.1 yards per kickoff return and is third in punt return average (9.1 yards per return).

Last week for MC: MC scored a touchdown in each of their first four possessions and racked up 435 total yards in the 48-7 win over Wilmington. Sidick became the first MC player to score three TD since Wagner had three to open the 2003 season. Wagner finished with 122 yards on the ground in the win.

Series: Saturday marks the 26th meeting between the Yellow Jackets and the Pioneers on the gridiron. B-W leads the all-time series, dating back to 1924, 24-2. Marietta has lost the last seven meetings The Pioneers’ last win was in 1996 when they won 43-30.

Last meeting: Baldwin-Wallace rushed for 306 yards and scored eight touchdowns in a 57-15 win over the Pioneers. Jason Vrable found Darren Lott in the end zone for a 14-yard score. Mike Valiante had eight catches for 45 yards, while Brian Haines added a touchdown. Brett Munn, Thadd Sharrett and Anthony Huffman each had eights stops in the week eight 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 is MC’s 26th coach and has a record of 7-11. Prior to joining Marietta, Glaser was the defensive coordinator at UW-Eau Claire for four seasons. Baldwin-Wallace’s John Snell (Baldwin-Wallace ‘89) is in his third season with the Yellow Jackets and has a 24-6 record. Snell has spent the last nine season in Berea, working under the Bob Packard, the winningest coach at B-W, before Packard hand picked him to be the new coach when he retired after the 2001 season.

Noteworthy: Chris Sidick needs three kickoff returns to break the NCAA DIII all-time record (104)...Sidick also needs five yards to break the NCAA DIII all-time kickoff return yards record...The Pioneers are 4-0 when Steven Wagner rushes for over 100 yards... Mike Valiante needs nine receptions to break Antonio Hutton’s school record for career receptions (151)...Marietta is looking for its first winning season since 1998 (6-4)... Last week, Wagner (123 yards) and Sidick (104 yards) became the first MC duo to rush for over 100 yards in the same game since 1989... Sidick was awarded OAC Offensive Player of the Week and has now received all-three awards during his career... The Yellow Jackets have a seasonal wining streak of 38 years; The streak is second longest in all of college football... Dave Ehrman ended a B-W and OAC-record streak of 39 straight games with a reception when he did not catch a pass against Mt. Union.

Great Coverage: Saturday’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.

Bricks: Donations to the Fields Project are still being accepted. Everyone who contributes at least $250 to the gets a personalized brick that will be placed at the entrance way on Green Street. For more information or to make a contribution call 1-800-274-4704.

Special welcome: MC welcomes all of the senior’s parents in attendance at Saturday ’s game.

Special welcome (part 2): MC welcomes all members of the Marietta Shrine Club who are helping with the game Saturday. They will raffle off the game ball of the 35th annual Shrine Game, which can be picked up after the game in the press box.

Next game: The Pioneers will close out the season in Ada against Ohio Northern Saturday (Nov. 13) at 1 p.m. Baldwin-Wallace will play crosstown rival John Carroll in University Heights 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     —            11             Chris Sidick
TE       —            80            Bryan Adams
LT       —            66            Gary Snyder
LG       —            54            Jason Price
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
OLB    —              3           Thadd Sharrett
ILB    —             39          Nate Brownrigg
CB      —            25          J. J. Wheeler
CB      —            2            Brett Munn
FS       —           12            Lonnie Meyers
SS       —            9            Anthony Banks