MARIETTA, Ohio – Capital University outscored Marietta College 35-3 in the second half en route to a 42-13 Ohio Athletic Conference victory at Don Drumm Stadium Saturday (Sept. 21) night.
The Crusaders (1-1 overall, 1-0 OAC) amassed 579 yards of total offense including 370 yards on the ground.
Marietta (0-2, 0-1) took a 10-7 lead into the locker room at halftime but couldn't find a way to slow down the Capital running game in the second half. Running the triple option, four different Crusaders rushed four over 70 yards in the game.
Freshman Brent Walton led the way for Capital with 131 yards on just eight carries. Freshman quarterback Chase Longwell carried the ball 21 times for 84 yards, while senior Alex Coleman and sophomore Bo Hardy each had 72 yards rushing.
Longwell, making his first career start, completed 7-of-12 passes for 150 yards and two touchdowns.
Marietta had a balanced offensive attack rushing for 188 yards and throwing for 142. Junior running back
Tim Conner (Cleveland/Glenville) gained 114 yards on 20 carries. Senior quarterback
Tom Fulton (Pittsburgh, Pa./Penn Hills) completed 19-of-39 passes for 142 yards and a touchdown. He was intercepted once.
Senior linebacker
Jake Hammer (Wadsworth/St. Vincent-St. Mary) led the Pioneer defense with 20 tackles. Sophomore linebacker
Daryl DeWindt (Lilburn, Ga./Meadowcreek) had 12 tackles including three for a loss, while junior linebacker
Cody Rice (Orrville/Orrville) made 11 stops.
On their first possession of the game the Crusaders drove deep into Marietta territory before turning the ball over. Senior defensive back
Robert Brown (Middleburg, Fla./Nathan B. Forrest) recovered a Capital fumble on the 12-yard line to stop the drive.
Marietta answered with a 12-play, 88-yard drive to take a 7-9 lead with 8:01 left in the first quarter. Conner carried the ball five times for 48 yards on the scoring drive. Fulton capped the drive with a five-yard pass to junior
Josh Llaneza (Westerville/South). Freshman
Garret Butler (Williamstown, W.Va/Williamstown) added the point after.
Capital took advantage of Marietta's only turnover of the game to even the score at 7-7. Sophomore linebacker Bryan Bokovitz interecepted a Fulton pass and returned it to the Pioneer 27-yard line. A personal foul on Marietta moved the ball to the 13-yard line.
Capital got on the board on Coleman's 10-yard run around the left side to tie the contest at 7-7 with just under 10 minutes to play in the second quarter.
On the ensuing possession, Marietta moved the ball to the Capital 18-yard line before the drive stalled. Butler nailed the 35-yard field goal for a 10-7 Pioneer lead.
Other than a 25-yard field goal from Butler in the third quarter, the second half was all Capital University.
Hardy scored on a 45-yard run followed by a pair of touchdown passes from Longwell. The first was a 24-yard scoring strike to senior Jacob Batcho and the second was a 43-yarder to Coleman.
Longwell scored on a one-yard run and back-up quarterback Alex Nydza ran in from five yards out to provide the final margin.
Marietta hits the road next Saturday (Sept. 28) for a 7:00 p.m. kickoff at No. 1 ranked Mount Union. 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.
