ALLIANCE, Ohio — Mount Union, the defending national champions and current No. 1 ranked team in the nation, scored on a pair of big plays in the first five minutes Saturday (Sept. 17) afternoon en route to a 56-0 victory over Marietta College. The Purple Raiders improve to 2-0 overall and 1-0 in the Ohio Athletic Conference. Marietta slips to 0-2 overall and 0-1 in the OAC.
After forcing Marietta to go 3-and-out on the first possession of the game, the Purple Raiders needed just four plays to get on the scoreboard. B.J. Mitchell got Mount Union rolling with a 46-yard touchdown run. Alex Louthan added the point after for a 7-0 Mount lead.
Marietta was again forced to punt on its next possession giving Mount Union the ball on their own 26-yard line. On the first play of the drive Luke Poorman connected with Jordan Hargrove on a 74-yard scoring strike. Kenny Wilder ran the two-point conversion in for a 15-0 Raider lead just over five minutes into the game.
Mount Union got another big play before halftime. Early in the second quarter Danny Robinson stepped in front of a
Darrien Fields (Aliquippa, Pa./Aliquippa) pass and returned it 76-yards for another Raider touchdown.
Mitchell scored three times in the first half and Jared Ruth caught a pair of touchdown passes as Mount Union took a 50-0 advantage into halftime. Louthan hit field goals of 23 and 38 yards in the second half for the 56-0 final score.
Freshman
Tanner Clark (Caldwell, Ohio/Caldwell) was Marietta's leading rusher gaining 48 yards on 10 carries.
Nick O'Neal (Mont Belvieu, Texas/Barbers Hill) had nine carries for 28 yards.
Fields completed 14-of-31 passes for 156 yards, but was picked off twice.
Alex Smith (Mansfield, Ohio/Mansfield) had three receptions for 39 yards and
Ray Racine (Conroe, TX/Cedar Ridge) caught two passes for 61 yards.
Cody Walker (Nelsonville, Ohio/Nelsonville York) led the Pioneer defense with 12 total tackles.
Corey Hunsberger (Washington, Pa./Trinity) made eight stops, while
Jakkar Bishop (Mansfield, OH/Mansfield) and
Nick Thompson (Lancaster, Ohio/Lancaster) each had seven tackles. Hunsberger and Bishop each recovered a Mount Union fumble in the game.
Mitchell led Mount Union with 120 yards rushing on just six carries, three of which ended in touchdowns. Jawanza Evans-Morris gained 95 yards on 14 carries and Dwayne Aaron finished with 11 carries for 83 yards.
Poorman competed all seven of his pass attempts for 121 yards and one touchdown. D'Angelo Fulford completed 4-of-5 passes for 37 yards and two scores.
Hargrove had three receptions for 96 yards and one score, while Ruth caught three aerials for only seven yards, but scored twice.
Marietta looks to retain the Shrine Game Trophy next Saturday (Sept. 24) when the Pioneers travel to New Concord for a 1 p.m. kickoff at rival Muskingum University. 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.
