COLUMBUS, Ohio — Capital University stuffed the Pioneers on a fourth and one in overtime to secure a 28-21 victory Saturday (Nov. 14) in Bernlohr Stadium. Marietta finishes the season 2-8 overall and 2-7 in the Ohio Athletic Conference. The Crusaders are 3-7 overall and 3-6 in the OAC.
Capital forced overtime when the Crusaders scored on a 15-yard pass from Nick Iske to Nick Waters with 41 seconds left in the fourth quarter. Capital had the first offensive possession in overtime and needed just six plays to score. Jake Breakey ran it in from four yards out for what would prove to be the game winner.
On Marietta's overtime possession, quarterback
Lucas Havens (Granville Summit, Pa./Troy Area) rushed for no gain on first down and then picked up seven yards on a second down run.
Roger Bush (Palm Bay, Fla./Bayside) ran for two more yards setting up the critical fourth down. Bush got the call on fourth down but was stuffed by the Capital defensive line for no gain.
Marietta outrushed Capital's top-five ranked ground game. The Pioneers ran for 290 yards, while the Crusaders finished with 255. Havens led MC with 105 yards on 18 carries.
Nick O'Neal (Mont Belvieu, Texas/Barbers Hill) had 97 yards on 17 carries, while Bush finished with 88 yards on 20 carries. Bush scored a pair of rushing touchdowns and Havens had one.
MC grabbed the early lead after its defense forced Capital to turn the ball over on downs on the Pioneer nine-yard line. Marietta went 91 yards on 17 plays eating up nearly 10 minutes off the clock. Havens dove in from a yard out for the score.
Jimmy Embrescia (Northfield/Nordonia) added the point after for a 7-0 lead.
The Crusaders answered right back. Iske hit Wally Brewer on a 27-yard scoring strike to cap an 11-play, 70-yard drive.
Another long drive put the Pioneers back in front. Marietta used nearly six minutes of clock time to go 87 yards. Bush ran it in from three yards out with 27 seconds left in the first half. Embrescia's PAT made it 14-7.
Capital fumbled away the ensuing kickoff and
Christian Mayola (Dublin/Coffman) recovered it for Marietta. The Pioneers ended up settling for a Hail Mary at the end of the half and nearly pulled it off. Haven's pass to
Nick Hineman (Beaver, Pa./Beaver Area) was knocked awy at the last second by Cap's J.R. Garrigo.
CU took the second half kickoff and marched down the field to tie the game at 14-14. Iske dove in from the one-yard line to finish the 13-play, 80-yard drive.
Once again Marietta took the lead with a long sustained drive. The Pioneers went 65 yards on 13 plays with Bush capping the drive with a 10-yard run. After Embrescia hit the PAT, MC led 21-14 midway through the fourth quarter.
Capital's next drive stalled on the Pioneer seven-yard line. Facing a fourth and one at the MC five-yard line, Iske rolled out to pass but was sacked by
Dalton Secrest (Beallsville/Beallsville) and
Nick Thompson (Lancaster/Lancaster) for a two-yard loss giving the ball back to Marietta.
The Pioneers put the ball in play with 3:11 left on the clock. After losing three yards on the first play, O'Neal ran for a yard and then Havens completed a nine-yard pass to
Nick Hineman (Beaver, Pa./Beaver Area) forcing the Pioneers to punt the ball back to Capital.
A short punt gave the Crusaders good field position at the Pioneer 40-yard line. Capital was out of timeouts having burned all three in the third quarter. Iske threw incomplete passes on first and second down before hitting Jake Skelton for 25-yards and a first down. Iske's next pass was the 15-yard TD to Waters tying the game.
Iske completed 7-of-12 passes for 118 yards and two scores. He picked up 69 yards and one touchdown on the ground. Brent Walton finished with 123 yards on 21 carries.
Senior
Daryl DeWindt (Lilburn, Ga./Meadowcreek) led the Pioneer defense with 15 tackles. He finished the season with a team-high 95 total tackles. Defensive back
Corey Hunsberger (Washington, Pa./Trinity) had 10 tackles.
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.
