WILMINGTON, Ohio —
Roger Bush (Palm Bay, Fla./Bayside) scored three first half touchdowns to lead Marietta College to a 34-14 victory over Wilmington College Saturday (Oct. 3) afternoon. The Pioneers are 1-3 overall and 1-2 in the Ohio Athletic Conference, while Wilmington falls to 1-3 overall and 0-3 in the OAC.
The Quakers were hoping their Homecoming crowd would carry them to victory, but turnovers and a 0-for-5 performance on fourth down proved costly. Wilmington was forced to punt on its first possession but the snap sailed over the punter's head giving Marietta the ball on the WC four-yard line.
A pair of two-yard runs by Bush and a PAT from
Jimmy Embrescia (Northfield/Nordonia) gave the Pioneers the early 7-0 lead.
Marietta forced another Quaker punt on the ensuing possession. Cole Voltz nailed a 51-yard punt and a penalty against the Pioneers put the ball on the Marietta 10-yard line. Wilmington's Nick Williams scooped up a bad Pioneer snap and returned it 15 yards to pay dirt knotting the score at 7-7 five minutes into the game.
After stopping the Quakers on fourth down, Marietta went on a nine-play, 59-yard drive capped by a four-yard Bush touchdown run. Embrescia's point after was blocked giving MC a 13-7 lead in the opening seconds of the second quarter.
The Pioneer defense again set up Marietta's next score as well.
Masai McDaniel (Cleveland Heights/Lake Catholic) stopped a Quaker drive with an interception at the MC 35-yard line. Seven plays later Bush dove in from a yard out pushing the lead to 20-7 following the Embrescia PAT with 4:53 left in the half.
Wilmington went three and out on its next possession but Marietta failed to run out the clock. David Henry hit Marietta quarterback
Lucas Havens (Granville Summit, Pa./Troy Area) knocking the ball loose where Teqon Scott recovered it for the Quakers.
Jarbo hit Justin Lee on a 26-yard scoring strike to finish off the three-play, 44-yard drive. Grant Brown added the point after cutting the Pioneer lead to 20-14 with 1:57 left before halftime.
With nearly two minutes on the clock and a pair of timeouts to use, the Pioneers went to work at their own 34-yard line. Havens ran for 18-yards and a first down on a third and long. He then hit
Darnell Clemm (Pittsburgh, Pa./Pittsburgh Central Catholic) for 14 yards and
Alex Smith (Mansfield/Mansfield) for 18 more down to the WC five.
Havens spiked the ball to stop the clock with 11 seconds remaining. Wilmington called a timeout to regroup but Havens found Nick HIneman open in the back of the endzone for the touchdown giving the Pioneers a 27-14 halftime lead.
The second half was all defense as neither team mounted much of an attack. After a scoreless third quarter, Marietta managed to pad its lead with a late score.
Zach Camper (Saint Charles, Ill./St. Charles East) hit a 47-yard pint to pin the Quakers at their own three-yard line. On the first play from scrimmage, Jarbo was hit from behind in the end zone knocking the ball into the hands of
Aaron Johnson (Rex, Ga./Morrow) for the pick-six. Embrescia added the point after for the final 34-14 margin.
Bush finished with 99 yards on 21 carries and three touchdowns.
Nick O'Neal (Mont Belvieu, Texas/Barbers Hill) ran for 49 yards on 17 carries. Havens completed 11-of-19 passes for 172 yards and a score. He was picked off once. Smith caught four passes for 74 yards.
Chase Manica led the Quaker ground attack with 93 yards on 21 carries. Jarbo completed 10-of-24 passes for 93 yards and one touchdown. He was intercepted twice. Aroyal Wright caught six aerials for 42 yards.
Corey Hunsberger (Washington, Pa./Trinity) and
Daryl DeWindt (Lilburn, Ga./Meadowcreek) had eight tackles each for the Pioneers. Henry led the Quakers with 13 tackles.
The Pioneers will be looking to spoil yet another Homecoming as Marietta travels to Baldwin Wallace University on Saturday (Oct. 10) for a 2:00 p.m. kickoff. Fans can follow all the Pioneer teams all year long at
pioneers.marietta.edu. You can also follow the Pioneers on Facebook at
facebook.com/MariettaCollege and @MariettaPioneer on Twitter and Instagram.
