Turnovers tell the story again, as Marietta football falls on the road to No. 3 Capital, 52-10
Vrable sets Pioneers' career record for pass completions with 398

Sept. 30, 2006
COLUMBUS, Ohio — Five Marietta College turnovers proved insurmountable against No. 3 Capital University Saturday (Sept. 30) afternoon, as the Pioneers fell 52-10 to the Crusaders. Marietta senior quarterback Jason Vrable (South Park, Pa.) did make school history, breaking the Pioneer career record for pass completions. He now has 398.

With the win Capital improves to 4-0 overall and 3-0 in the Ohio Athletic Conference, while Marietta, who began the year with two wins, falls to 2-2 and 1-2 in the OAC.

Pioneer Head Coach Curt Wiese knew that he needed to take some chances in order to upset the powerful Crusaders. Wiese showed his willingness to do so, when he gambled on the opening kickoff, after winning the coin toss, and successfully pulled off the onside kick. Unfortunately, Marietta fumbled on its second play from scrimmage to lose all of the momentum.

Capital took advantage of the turnover four plays later, when Jeremy Mulkey capped a quick drive that featured a 40-yard pass from Rocky Pentello to Dylan Kelly on the first play with a one-yard touchdown run to give the Crusaders a 7-0 lead.

Another Pioneer turnover two possessions later set up the Crusaders' second scoring drive. Two plays later Pentello connected with Derek Alexander for a 47-yard touchdown strike to make the score 14-0 at the 6:56 mark of the first quarter.

Capital added a 37-yard field goal early in the second frame to extend its lead to 17-0. Following a Marietta three-and-out, Pentello hooked up with Alexander on the first play of Capital's next drive for a 55-yard touchdown pass to give the Crusaders a 24-0 lead.

Marietta finally got on the board with a Pat Lane (Marietta/Warren Local) 26-yard field goal. The score, which came with just over five minutes left in the half, capped an 11-play, 37-yard drive for the Pioneers that was set up by an Anthony Banks (Colonial Heights, Va./Thomas Dale) forced fumble that was recovered by sophomore Grant Cowell (Perrysville/Loudonville).

The Pioneers looked to pull closer on their final possession of the half, but a Vrable pass was intercepted in the red-zone to stall the drive.

Marietta did close the gap on the first possession of the second half. Vrable put together a 16-play, 82-yard drive that ended with a one-yard pass to junior Chad McDaniel (Wooster/Triway), the reigning OAC Offensive Player of the Week. Vrable went 8-of-12 and broke the career completion record on the drive.

The score remained 24-10 through the rest of the third quarter. The fourth frame was dominated by the Crusaders, as they scored 21 points in the first three-and-a-half minutes to build a comfortable lead. Capital added a score in the final minutes to complete the 52-10 victory.

Both quarterbacks had record-setting afternoons. Pentello, who finished 18-of-37 for 333 yards and three scores, became the OAC's all-time passing attempts leader (1,282). He also surpasses the 10,000-yard plateau (10,140) and is only the third quarterback in the OAC's 105-year history ever to do so.

Vrable, despite throwing three interceptions, went 32-of-57 for 338 yards and a touchdown, the 30th of his career. In addition to breaking the school record for career completions, Vrable is now one touchdown, 65 yards and 71 attempts shy of tying those career records at MC. Through just four games, the lefty is 105-of-177 for 1,498 yards and nine touchdowns.

McDaniel backed up his record-setting night at Otterbein with another solid day receiving. The junior caught a game-high 13 receptions for 121 yards. Senior Nic North (Madison, Wis./East) added eight grabs for 81 yards and senior Jason Curry (Akron/Springfield) pulled in seven receptions for 91 yards.

Alexander led Capital's receiver corps with seven catches for a career-high 178 yards and three TD receptions.

Mulkey paced the Crusader rushing attack, which totaled 136 yards, with 21 carries for 88 yards and two scores. Marietta managed just a net of eight yards in the game.

Defensively, Marietta sophomore Adam Sigman (Barberton) had an interception, while junior Brian Hahn (Upper Sandusky) led the squad with eight tackles.

Capital's Matt Coleman finished with 14 tackles, while Thom Hausler added a 70-yard interception return for a TD.

Marietta will look to break its two-game slide when it returns home to host rival Muskingum Saturday (Oct. 7) at 6 p.m.

All of the action can be heard locally on WMRT-FM 88.3, WMOA-AM 1490 and online, through Stretch Internet, at pioneers.marietta.edu/onlinebroadcasts.