MARIETTA, Ohio — Marietta College opens the 2014 football season Saturday (Sept. 6) at Kenyon College and the Pioneers enter the new season with a much smaller roster and considerably less experience than a year. However, the roster does feature plenty of young, strong and athletic players eager to make their mark in the highly competitive Ohio Athletic Conference.
"We want to prepare at a high level. We expect our guys to commit to the process that it takes to be successful and that is fundamentally sound football," head coach
Andy Waddle said. "If we can consistently show weekly improvement I think that we will be happy with where sit at the end of the year."
Marietta returns 24 lettermen and nine starters, five on offense and four on defense, to lead the way in 2014. The Pioneers have just six seniors on the roster this fall, only one of which plays on the defensive side of the ball.
"We've got a small group of upperclassmen," Waddle said. "We want those guys to step up and be leaders."
Marietta returns a trio of seniors in its receiving corps. Wide receiver
Tannon Roberts (West Palm Beach, Fla./Berean Christian) is back after missing most of last year with an injury. As a junior, Roberts caught 39 passes for 560 yards and two touchdowns.
Josh Llaneza (Westerville/South) finished with 37 receptions for 455 yards last fall while splitting time between tight end and wide receiver, while
Tyler Anderson (Huntington, W.Va./Cabell Midland) caught 10 passes for 93 yards at tight end.
The Pioneers must find a signal caller as two-year starter
Tom Fulton (Pittsburgh, Pa./Penn Hills) graduated. Two players have emerged from a wide-open battle during the preseason. Junior
Lucas Havens (Granville Summit, Pa./Troy Area) and sophomore transfer
Akil Young (Pittsburgh, Pa./University Prep) are both listed as No. 1 on the depth chart.
"Lucas and Akil each do different things better than the other," Waddle said. "Both will most likely see playing time at Kenyon."
While the quarterback position is still a question mark, so is the running game. The entire backfield from last season is gone. In fact, the leading returning rusher is Roberts who gained 16 yards on three carries before his injury.
Junior
Ahshai Stewart (Cincinnati, Ohio/Withrow), a converted tight end, will get the start at running back in the season-opener. His lead blocker may very well be Llaneza, who is currently listed as the starting fullback on the depth chart. Freshman
Masai McDaniel (Cleveland Heights, Ohio/Lake Catholic) has shown flashes of brilliance during the preseason and will get playing time at running back. Sophomore
Jared Deep (Washington, Pa./Trinity) will spell Llaneza at fullback.
Senior
Zach Johnson (Alliance/Marlington) and junior
Trevor Rick (Pittsburgh, Pa/Pittsburgh Central Catholic) return on the offensive line. Johnson started at guard two years ago before missing last year with an injury. Rick will move from right tackle to the left side. The remainder of the starting lineup on the line consists of three sophomores;
Mitch Bilotta (Mason, Ohio/Loveland) at left guard,
Eric Canterbury (Lewisburg, W.Va./Greenbrier East) at center and
Jon Burwell (Nashport/Tri-Valley) at right tackle.
On defense the Pioneers return only four starters after losing three defensive linemen and three defensive backs to graduation, in addition to two-time All-OAC linebacker
Jake Hammer (Wadsworth/St. Vincent-St. Mary). Linebacker
Cody Rice (Orrville/Orrville) is the lone senior on the defensive side of the ball. He started all 10 games and finished second behind Hammer last season in tackles with 83.
Juniors
Daryl DeWindt (Lilburn, Ga./Meadowcreek) and
Joe Ortega (Fresno, Texas/Hightower) return at linebacker and defensive end, respectively. Both started all 10 games a year ago. DeWindt recorded 66 tackles, while Ortega had 50 stops including a team-high nine tackles for a loss.
Joining Ortega up front will be junior defensive end
Nick Thompson (Lancaster, Ohio/Lancaster), sophomore defensive tackle
Aaron Johnson (Rex, Ga./Morrow) and freshman tackle
Dalton Secrest (Beallsville, Ohio/Beallsville). Sophomore
Xavier Scott (Palm Coast, Fla./Atlantic) will get the start at outside linebacker alongside DeWindt and Rice.
In the secondary, the Pioneers return sophomore
Corey Hunsberger (Washington, Pa./Trinity). Hunsberger started all 10 games last fall and finished the season with 56 tackles. Sophomores
Dalton Fix (Mansfield/Madison Comprehensive) and
Travis Hall (Sarver, Pa./Freeport Area), along with freshman
Grant Patterson (Missouri City, Texas/Elkins) round out the starting lineup.
Fix will handle the place kicking duties, while sophomore
Thomas Hinkle (Fredericktown, Ohio/Fredericktown) will be the Pioneers' punter. Both are first-time starters at their respective kicking positions.
Playing in the OAC is tough enough, but to make matters worse, the Pioneers have just four home games in 2014. After opening on the road at Kenyon and taking a bye week, Marietta opens league play at Otterbein and at Mount Union.
The home opener is set for October 4 against Wilmington. The other three home games are against Baldwin Wallace, Ohio Northern and Capital. In addition to playing at perennial power Mount Union, the Pioneers have road games against nationally ranked John Carroll and Heidelberg as well as rival Muskingum.
"The OAC is a great league and I knew that before I came into it," Waddle said. "Obviously you need to show up and play a great game to get a win every week. Our guys know that and our coaching staff knows that."
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 and Instagram.
