NEW CONCORD, Ohio — Muskingum University reclaimed the Shrine Trophy with a 28-10 win over Marietta College Saturday (Sept. 24) afternoon in McConagha Stadium. The loss drops Marietta to 0-3 overall and 0-2 in the Ohio Athletic Conference. The Muskies improve to 2-1 overall and 1-1 in the OAC.
Muskingum took an early 14-0 lead. Griffin Degener hit Jordan Turek for a 3-yard touchdown pass in the first quarter and then connected with Jordan Scanlon on another 3-yd scoring strike with 13:27 left in the first half.
The Pioneers got on the board when
Jimmy Embrescia (Northfield, Ohio/Nordonia) nailed a 34-yard field goal with 5:44 remaining in the half to trim the lead to 14-3.
Marietta opened its bag of tricks after the field goal. Embrescia recovered his own onside kick at the Muskie 39-yard line. After a pair of
Roger Walker (Palm Bay, Fla./Bayside) runs and an illegal blocking call against the Pioneers, Marietta faced a 3-and-14 at the Muskingum 43-yards line.
Quarterback
Darrien Fields (Aliquippa, Pa./Aliquippa) hooked up with Walker for a gain of 22 yards and a first down at the 21-yard line. Two more walker runs gave Marietta a first and goal at the 8-yard line.
Two more carries from Walker moved the ball to the 2-yard line. Following a Muskingum timeout,
Nick O'Neal (Mont Belvieu, Texas/Barbers Hill) capped the drive with a 2-yard touchdown run. Embrescia added the point after for a 14-10 Pioneer deficit with 2:32 left in the half.
Muskingum took advantage of a critical Pioneer penalty to grab the momentum back before halftime. The Muskies faced a 3-and-17 from their own 39-yard line. Scanlon ran the ball for 11 yards, well short of the first down marker, but a personal foul call against Marietta tacked on an additional 15-yards for a Muskingum first down.
Four plays later, Scanlon dove in from a yard out with just 29 seconds on the clock. Cody Dent added the point after extending the Muskie lead to 21-10 at halftime.
After the intermission Marietta turned the ball over on downs twice, including once at the Muskingum 2-yard line, fumbled the ball away once and three an interception.
The Muskies added a touchdown in the fourth quarter. Scanlon scored on a 1-yard run at the 8:17 mark for his third touchdown of the game. His run capped a 9-play, 43-yard drive that extended the Muskie lead to 28-10.
Scanlon, Muskingum's Shrine Player of the Game, finished with 100 yards rushing on 21 carries. He scored twice on the ground and caught a touchdown pass. Degener completed 8-of-11 passes for 118 yards and two TD's.
Walker led the Pioneer ground attack with 64 yards on 15 carries. O'Neal finished with 57 yards rushing on 15 carries and one touchdown. Fields threw for 111 yards on 14-of-20 passes. He was picked off once.
Nick Hineman (Beaver, Pa./Beaver Area) caught seven passes for 65 yards.
Cody Walker (Nelsonville, Ohio/Nelsonville York) was named Marietta's Shrine Player of the Game after making 13 tackles, including two for a loss.
Corey Hunsberger (Washington, Pa./Trinity) had eight tackles for the Pioneers.
Muskingum's Mick Fishel also tallied 13 tackles in the game. Cle'Von Burch had 10 tackles and an interception for the Muskies.
Marietta returns home to host Baldwin Wallace University next Saturday (Oct. 1). Kickoff is set for 1:30 p.m. 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.
