AUSTINTOWN, Ohio — On the heels of the its best season in over 10 years, the Marietta College football team is starting to collect its share of postseason accolades. Six Pioneers were named to the 2017 All-Ohio Athletic Conference Football Team announced Monday (Nov. 20) by the league office and head coach
Andy Waddle earned Coach of the Year honors.
In his fifth season as head coach, Waddle led the Pioneers to a 6-4 overall record this fall. The best season since MC went 6-4 in 2006. Marietta tied for fourth place in the OAC with 5-4 conference mark.
Waddle becomes just the third Marietta football coach to earn OAC Coach of the Year honors. He joins Todd Glaser (2004) and Gene Eppley (1995) as the school's only recipients.
Senior running back
Roger Walker (Palm Bay, Fla./Bayside) and junior offensive lineman
Caleb Riggleman (Beverly, W.Va./Elkins) were named to the first team for the second straight year. Junior center
Brendan Mulholland (Pittsburgh, Pa./Brentwood) and freshman tight end
Bobby Cashaw (Aliquippa, Pa./Aliquippa) earned second team honors, while senior defensive lineman
Dalton Secrest (Beallsville, Ohio/Beallsville) and senior offensive lineman
Anthony Jalowiec (Grafton, Ohio/Midview) were honorable mention.
Walker closed out his career in the Navy Blue and White in grand fashion rushing for over 200 yards in each of the last three games of the season. He ran for 1,492 yards on the season, second best in the OAC.
"Roger is a special player," Waddle said. "He has placed himself in the top three or four players in program history. When people talk about Marietta College football, they talk about players like Dante Brown and Kenneth Sasu. And now Roger will be in that discussion."
A three-time All-OAC pick, Walker led the conference in rushing touchdowns with 17, total touchdowns with 20 and points scored with 122. He finished his career with 52 total touchdowns, good for second place on Marietta's all-time list two behind Dante Brown. In his final game, Walker eclipsed 4,000 career rushing yards and 5000 career all-purpose yards.
With three of MC's five starting lineman earned all-conference honors, Walker had one of the OAC's top offensive lines opening holes for him. Marietta finished second in the conference averaging 229.1 yards per game on the ground.
Riggleman anchored the offensive line from his left tackle position. Mulholland started the year at right guard and moved to center after a season-ending injury knocked
Eric Canterbury (Lewisburg, W.Va./Greenbrier East) from the lineup, while Jalowiec started all 10 games at left guard.
Adding to an already stellar offensive line, Cashaw quickly established himself as one of the top tight ends in the conference. When not helping clear a path for Walker, Cashaw caught 14 passes for 179 yards and two touchdowns in his rookie season.
Secrest, Marietta's lone defensive honoree, has been a mainstay on the Pioneer defensive line for four years. He recorded 35 total tackles from his defensive end position this fall. Secrest led the team with 3.0 sacks and 6.0 hurries.
Fans can follow all of 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.
