Marietta Football Game Notes (PDF)

THE RECORDS: Saturday marks the 2010 season opener for both teams. Marietta and Thiel finished the 2009 campaign with 3-7 records. The Pioneers also went 2-7 in the Ohio Athletic Conference, while the Tomcats were 1-5 in the Presidents' Athletic Conference.

GAME TIME: 1:30 p.m., Saturday, Sept. 4, Alumni Stadium in Greenville, Pa.

THE COACHES: Marietta's Jeff Filkovski is in his third season as the leader of the Pioneers. He is the former signal caller for the Cologne Centurions of NFL Europe. Filkovski, who earned his bachelor's degree from Allegheny College in 1991, led the Gators to a national championship in 1990. Thiel's Kurt Reiser begins his second year as the Tomcats' head football coach. The 1993 graduate of Allegheny was an assistant for eight seasons with Thiel.

MEMORABLE REUNION: Marietta coach Jeff Filkovski and Thiel coach Kurt Reiser will be forever linked in Allegheny College football history, as Filkovski hit Reiser for the game-winning touchdown pass to give the Gators the 1990 NCAA Division III National Championship.

ALL-TIME SERIES: Saturday is the eighth time that the two teams will meet on the gridiron. The series began in 1921 with Marietta, who holds a 6-1 advantage, winning 22-0. Thiel's lone victory came by the score of 13-6 in 1923. Marietta also won 7-0 in 1924, 20-16 in 1994, 36-0 in 1995, 21-18 in 2008 and 20-14 in 2009.

LAST MEETING: [Box Score] [Recap] The Pioneers opened the 2009 season with a 20-14 victory over the visiting Tomcats giving them a season-opening win for the 14th time in the last 16 years. Marietta accumulated 310 yards of total offense, including 122 yards on the ground. Its defense held Thiel to 212 yards but only six rushing yards. Lamar Hunter (South Euclid/Brush) carried the offense with 23 rushes for 90 yards and three receptions for 52 yards and a score. Andrew Keller (Cincinnati/Glen Este) completed 17-of-23 passes and threw for 188 yards and two scores. He also ran eight times for an additional 37 yards. Clinton Thompson (Waverly, W.Va./Williamstown) anchored the Pioneer defense with 11 stops, all solo hits. Thiel's Willie Bova finished the day 25-of-43 and threw for 206 yards and two touchdowns. Brendan Taylor led the Tomcat receivers with 14 catches for 94 yards. Bobby Shew had a team-best nine tackles for Thiel.

NEXT GAME: On Sept. 18, Marietta will welcome Muskingum to Don Drumm Stadium for its home opener at 6 p.m. The Pioneers and Muskies will battle for the Shrine Trophy in front of a sixth annual River City Bowl crowd on Alumni Day, which will be televised by WTAP-TV. 

RADIO COVERAGE: Marietta College is scheduled to have WMRT-FM 88.3, its student radio station, broadcast the game for Pioneer fans. The broadcast will take the air with a short pregame at 1:20 p.m. Thiel College is also slated to have its local station cover the game for its fans.

LISTEN ONLINE: Marietta College is proud to once again offer its fans on the World Wide Web a free opportunity to listen to all 10 Pioneer football games. For more information visit Marietta's athletic web site: http://pioneers.marietta.edu.

LIVE STATISTICS: Thiel will offer live statistics for fans across the country. For more information visit Thiel's athletic web site: http://www.thielathletics.com.

STAY UP TO DATE: Visit http://pioneers.marietta.edu to stay up to date with all of the Marietta College athletics news.

SMS SCORES: Marietta fans can receive scores and alerts directly on their cell phone by signing up at http://pioneers.marietta.edu/member/sms_signup.aspx.

PIONEER NEWSLETTER: Want all of the latest athletics news sent directly to your e-mail? If so, sign up at http://pioneers.marietta.edu/subscribe.aspx. Fans can choose which sports they would like to follow.

SCHEDULE CARDS: Free Fall Schedule Cards are now available. Stop by the athletics office to pick one up today.

MEDIA GUIDES NOW ON SALE: Pioneer fans can now purchase 2010 football media guides. They will be made available at all home contests and in the athletics office.

CAPTAINS ANNOUNCED: Marietta College will have four captains during the 2010 season: senior offensive lineman Cameron Kiger (Rockbridge/Logan), senior fullback Rich Klingel (Marion/River Valley), senior defensive lineman Pete Santagate (Venetia, Pa./Peters Township) and senior defensive lineman Adam Tate (Chesterhill/Federal Hocking).

NATIONAL SPOTLIGHT: The OAC has three teams ranked in the d3football.com Preseason Top 25: #2 Mount Union, #11 Ohio Northern and #20 Otterbein.

SEASON OPENERS: The Pioneers have pulled out victories in 14 of the last 16 season openers. Marietta is opening on the road for the fourth time in the last five years. The Pioneers' last loss to start a year was at #3 Saint Johns (Minn.) University in 2007.

NATIONAL REPRESENTATION: Marietta's roster currently features 94 total student-athletes—52 from Ohio, 12 from Florida, 8 from Pennsylvania, 4 from Texas, 3 from West Virginia, 2 from California, Georgia, Maryland and South Carolina, 1 from Alabama, Arkansas, Colorado, Connecticut, Massachusetts, New Jersey and New York.

GETTING OFF TO A QUICK START: Marietta will look to get off to a fast start out of the locker room after struggling in the first half in recent years. The Pioneers were   85-20 in the first quarter and 105-30 in the second quarter of 2009.

CONTROLLING THE CLOCK: Marietta will look to dominate the time of possession in 2010. Last year, the Pioneers led in time of possession in five games. This year, Marietta will look improve that number and to turn that time into more points on the scoreboard.

TURNOVERS: Marietta needs to improve its turnover margin. In 2009, the Pioneers ranked 10th in the OAC and 222nd in NCAA Division III with a -14 turnover margin.

THIS WEEK IN THE OAC: Eight of the 10 OAC teams open their season this week. On Thursday (Sept. 2), Ohio Northern plays host to Wis.-River Falls and Baldwin-Wallace welcomes Wooster. On Friday (Sept. 3), Otterbein visits Husson. Marietta at Thiel is one of five games slated for Saturday (Sept. 4). Heidelberg travels to Alma, Wilmington is at Mount St. Joseph, John Carroll visits Case Western Reserve and Muskingum plays host to Defiance.

CALLING ALL FOOTBALL ALUMNI: Marietta College invites you to take part in Alumni Day Sept. 18. It is a great opportunity to relive some old memories and make some new ones. To register visit https://secure.www.alumniconnections.com/olc/pub/MRO/events/MRO2303007.html or call the Alumni Office at 1-800-274-4704.

DON DRUMM STADIUM PROJECT: The Pioneers will also kickoff the Don Drumm Stadium Project with a halftime ceremony on Sept. 18. For more information on the Don Drumm Stadium Project visit http://pioneers.marietta.edu/index.aspx?path=dds.

TAKE A KID TO THE GAME DAY: Mark your calendar for Oct. 9 when Marietta will once again participate in the national “Take a Kid to the Game” program. Kids, ages 14 and younger, will receive a free ticket with the purchase of a full-priced adult ticket ($5) to watch the Pioneers and Purple Raiders battle in Ohio Athletic Conference football action