Turnovers costly in Marietta's 31-17 loss to Otterbein
Jason Curry catches two touchdowns in loss

Oct. 1, 2005
MARIETTA, Ohio - The Marietta College football team suffered a tough 31-17 loss to Otterbein Saturday (Oct. 1) at Don Drumm Stadium. Two Cardinals' second-half touchdowns broke open a 17-17 game at the half and dropped Marietta's record to 2-2 overall, 1-2 in the OAC. With the win, Otterbein improved to 3-1, 2-1 in league play.

Marietta opened the game with a four-play, 41-yard scoring drive, highlighted by a 35-yard touchdown pass from Jason Vrable (South Park, PA) to Jason Curry (Akron/Springfield). Otterbein, however, blocked the PAT and MC led 6-0 77 seconds into the game.

The Cardinals followed Marietta's successful opening drive with a 10-play, 75-yard touchdown drive of their own and took an early 7-6 lead when Paul Stelzer hooked up with Ricardo Lenhart for a 13-yard touchdown pass.

The score remained the same until the first play of the second frame, when Stelzer found Tyler McDaniels open in the end zone for a two-yard touchdown, giving the Cardinals a 14-6 lead.

Marietta fought back to tie the score with 9:56 to play in the quarter when a streaking Curry ran under a Vrable pass and scooted 67 yards for the score. Vrable followed the touchdown pass with a two-point conversion pass to Nic North to make it 14-14.

A defensive stand by Marietta's set up a nine-play, 79-yard drive on the Pioneers' next possession, which produced a 32-yard Nick Manson (Canal Fulton/Akron Manchester) field goal, giving MC a 17-14 lead with just under six minutes remaining in the half.

Otterbein was able to tie the score thanks to a John Sims' 39-yard field goal with 1:16 left in the second quarter. The Cardinals had a chance to take a halftime lead after they caused a Vrable fumble, but a 40-yard Sims' attempt was wide left as time expired.

Stelzer broke a 17-17 tie midway through the third period when he connected with Kyle Wolfe for a 59-yard touchdown.

Marietta looked as if it was going to match the touchdown when it compiled a 13-play, 77-yard drive, down to the Cardinal's 3-yard line, but Ronnie Smith came through with the game-changing play when he intercepted a Vrable pass in the end zone to preserve the lead.

Otterbein proceeded to make the Pioneers pay for the mistake, by driving 80 yards for the score. John Scott landed the final blow with a 1-yard touchdown run and Otterbein increased its lead to 31-17.

The Pioneers had more opportunities in the fourth quarter, but two more Otterbein interceptions prevented them from coming any closer and the Cardinals left town with a 31-17 victory.

Otterbein finished with a 542 yards of total offense—314 yards through the air and 228 yards on the ground. Marietta collected 132 yards rushing and 321 yards passing in the loss.

Otterbein's Scott finished with 20 carries for 153 yards to lead all running backs. Steven Wagner (Harwick, PA/Fox Chapel) was held to 23 carries for 69 yards.

Stelzer completed 28-of-47 passes for 308 yards and three touchdowns. He was intercepted once. Vrable finished 11-of-28 for 231 yards with two touchdowns and three interceptions. He became the first Pioneer quarterback to throw for over 200 yards since Justin Papania threw for 308 yards against Wilmington in 2003.

Wolfe led Otterbein's receivers with 11 receptions for 161 yards, while Lenhart added nine catches for 88 yards. Curry pulled in a team-high five receptions for 144 yards for Marietta.

Defensively, Kyle Whaley played a major factor, intercepting two passes and recovering a fumble, while Kieran Johnson finished the game with a team-high 11 tackles for the Cardinals.

Marietta was led by Darren Marks (Parkersburg, WV) with 12 tackles and Brian Hahn (Upper Sandusky) with 11 stops. Cody Venderlic (Friendly, WV/St. Marys) picked off his first pass of the year.

The Pioneers' schedule will not get any easier, as they must travel to Columbus Saturday (Oct. 8) to take on Capital at 1:30 p.m. before returning home to battle Mount Union the following week (Oct. 15).