CLEVELAND, Ohio – Case Western Reserve University scored first and never trailed en route to a 37-16 win over Marietta College Saturday (Sept. 7) evening. The game was the season-opener for both schools.
The Spartans' Kenny Riordan capped a four-play, 58-yard drive with a five yard run to pay dirt with 4:56 left in the first quarter. A bad snap on the point after left Case with a 6-0 lead.
On its next possession Case was forced to punt from its own 23-yard line. The snap sailed over the head of punter Erik Olson and out the back of the end zone for a safety making it 6-2 with 2:19 remaining in the opening period.
That would be as close as the Pioneers would get as the Spartans scored the next 31 points, including 14 in the second quarter. Case took a 20-2 lead into halftime.
Senior
Tom Fulton (Pittsburgh, Pa./Penn Hills) relieved sophomore
Axten Franzoy (Las Cruces, N.M./Mayfield) midway through the fourth quarter and engineered a pair of scoring drives.
Fulton completed 5-of-7 passes for 40 yards on Marietta's first scoring drive. Fulton ran it in from three yards out for the score. Freshman
Garret Butler (Williamstown, W.Va/Williamstown) added the point after to make it 37-9 with 6:20 left in the game.
Case Western went three-and-out on its next possession and Marietta put the ball in play from its own 36-yard line. Fulton again went to work and completed 5-of-6 passes for 46 yards. He hit junior
Josh Llaneza (Westerville/South) for a 12-yard touchdown to complete the drive. Butler added the point after to make it 37-16 with 1:48 left on the clock.
Franzoy finished the game with nine completions in 32 attempts for 60 yards. He was picked off twice. Fulton went 10-of-13 for 91 yards and a touchdown.
Junior
Tim Conner (Cleveland/Glenville) led the Pioneer ground attack with 43 yards on 18 carries. Llaneza had six receptions for 65 yards and a score, while senior
Kirby Harris (Greenville, S.C./South Side) caught five aerials for 29 yards.
Defensively, senior linebacker
Jake Hammer (Wadsworth/St. Vincent-St. Mary) picked up where he left off last season. Hammer, who led the Ohio Athletic Conference in tackles last fall, made 13 total stops against Case. Junior
Cody Rice (Orrville/Orrville) added nine tackles.
The Spartan quarterback duo of Billy Beecher and Erik Olsen both played well in the opener. Beecher completed 7-of-11 passes for 115 yards, while Olson hit 7-of-9 passes for 119 yards and a touchdown.
Kenny Riordan carried the ball 14 times for 51 yards and two scores, while Manny Sicre had 37 yards on seven carries, including a touchdown.
Following a week off, Marietta returns home to host Capital University Saturday (Sept. 21). Kickoff is set for 7:00 p.m. 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.
