MARIETTA, Ohio – Marietta College scored 22 unanswered points in the fourth quarter to pull away from Wilmington College and secure a 50-22 win Saturday (Oct. 26) afternoon at Don Drumm Stadium.
The win snapped a 17-game losing streak for Marietta (1-6 overall, 1-5 OAC) and gave head coach
Andy Waddle his first career coaching victory. The Pioneers' 50 points was the most for Marietta since defeating Capital University 52-21 in Don Drumm Stadium during the 2000 season.
Wilmington (0-7, 0-6) capitalized on a Marietta turnover to take a 6-0 lead in the first quarter. Pioneer offensive tackle
Tito Jeffries (Lore City/Buckeye Trail) caught a tipped pass but fumbled the ball. Wilmington's Tim Lee recovered the loose ball at the Quaker 41-yard line.
Senior quarterback Brandon Arehart demonstrated why he is the OAC's leading passer as he completed all three of his pass attempts on the five-play, 51-yard scoring drive. Arehart hit Matt Stooksbury from six yards out for the touchdown. The point after failed and Wilmington led 6-0 with 6:58 left in the first quarter.
The Pioneers answered right back with a 12-play, 76-yard scoring drive of their own. Senior
Tom Fulton (Pittsburgh, Pa./Penn Hills) completed passes on the first two plays of the drive and then Marietta went to the run.
Freshman
Patrick Lewis (Ironton/Ironton) ripped off consecutive runs of 10 and 11 yards to move the ball into Quaker territory. Junior
Tim Conner (Cleveland/Glenville) capped the drive with a 12-yard run to pay dirt.
Garret Butler (Williamstown, W.Va/Williamstown) added the point after giving Marietta a 7-6 lead with 1:38 remaining in the first.
Wilmington appeared to be on its way to another score until Marietta freshman defensive back
RJ Murray (Snellville, Ga./Peachtree Ridge) intercepted an Arehart pass at the Pioneer 14-yard line.
Fulton led Marietta on a 14-play, 86-yard scoring drive that took over five minutes off the clock and put the Pioneers ahead 14-6. Fulton completed four passes for 55 yards on the drive. Freshman Roger Bush plowed in from two yards out for the score.
Fulton extended the Pioneer lead with a 55-yard touchdown pass to Lewis just over two minutes later.
With time running out in the first half, Arehart marched the Quakers down the field getting inside the Pioneer 10-yard line. The Quakers had a first and goal from the six when sophomore defensive lineman
Joe Ortega (Fresno, Texas/Hightower) blew through the line to sack Arehart for a nine-yard loss.
Ortega's sack forced Wilmington to take a timeout with 12 seconds left in the half. Following the timeout, Arehart's pass to Jeremy Duncan was incomplete and the Quakers had to settle for a 32-yard field goal from Grant Brown. Marietta led 21-9 at halftime.
The teams traded touchdowns to start the second half. Wilmington scored on a three-yard run by Zak Kruer, but the two-point conversion failed. Marietta's score came on a 15-yard pass from Fulton to
Tyler Anderson (Huntington, W.Va./Cabell Midland). After the Butler PAT, the Pioneers led 28-15 with 4:08 left in the third quarter.
Wilmington put the ball into play at its own 26-yard line after an 18-yard kickoff return from Kruer. After a six-yard run from Kruer on first down, Arehart connected with Stooksbury for 25 more. He followed that with a 43-yard scoring strike to Duncan cutting the lead to 28-22 with 3:12 left in the third.
But that was as close as Wilmington would get. The fourth quarter was all Marietta College. Bush dove in from a yard out for his second touchdown of the game. After Fulton hit Anderson on the two-point conversion, Marietta led 36-22 with 5:50 left in the game.
Any hope of a comeback for Wilmington ended when junior linebacker
Cody Rice (Orrville/Orrville) stepped in from of an Arehart pass and returned 15-yards for the pick-six and a 43-22 Pioneer lead.
Wilmington turned the ball over on downs on its next possession. Marietta took over at the Quaker 44-yard line. Five straight running plays put the ball at the 16-yard line. On third and five, Fulton hit senior
Kirby Harris (Greenville, S.C./South Side) for a 16-yard touchdown. Butler's point after made it 50-22 with 43 seconds left in the game.
Fulton finished the game 18-of-27 for 245 yards and three touchdowns. Harris caught 10 passes for 119 yards and a TD.
On the ground, Conner carried the ball 17 times for 84 yards and a touchdown. Bush had 18 carries for 72 yards and two scores, while Lewis carried the ball 10 times for 61 yards.
Freshman defensive back
Corey Hunsberger (Washington, Pa./Trinity) led the Pioneer defense with 15 tackles. In addition to the interception return for a touchdown, Rice finished with nine tackles.
Arehart completed 21-of-41 passes for 317 yards and two touchdowns. He was picked off twice. Duncan caught eight passes for 126 yards and a score.
Kruer was Wilmington's leading rusher with 91 yards and one touchdown on 20 carries.
Freshman linebacker Terrell Starckey made 22 tackles for the Quakers, while Amari Bryant had 13 and Trent Waters had 10 stops.
Marietta wraps up the home portion of its schedule next Saturday (Nov. 2) when Baldwin Wallace University comes to town for a 1:30 p.m. kickoff. It will be Senior Day at Don Drumm Stadium, as well as the annual Shrine Game.
Fans can follow the Pioneers all season long at
pioneers.marietta.edu. You can also follow the Pioneers on Facebook at
facebook.com/MariettaCollege and @MariettaPioneer on Twitter.
