BEAVER FALLS, Pa. — Marietta College quarterback
Darrien Fields (Aliquippa, Pa./Aliquippa) grew up about 15 miles from the Geneva College campus. The Aliquippa High School graduate made the most of his homecoming throwing for three touchdowns leading the Pioneers to a 26-25 come from behind victory over the Golden Tornadoes Saturday (Sept. 2) evening.
Fields hit
Andrew Barker (Mogadore, Ohio/Mogadore) on a 23-yard scoring strike with two minutes left on the clock to tie the game at 25.
Jimmy Embrescia (Northfield, Ohio/Nordonia) put the Pioneers in front for the first time with the point after.
The Fields touchdown pass capped a quick three-play, 61-yard scoring drive. After forcing Geneva to punt, Marietta took over on its own 39-yard line with 2:45 left in the game and trailing 25-19.
Offensive Coordinator
Alan Estep dipped into his bag of tricks. The Pioneers gave the ball to wide receiver
Alex Smith (Mansfield, Ohio/Mansfield) who threw the ball to a wide-open
Ryan Van Meter (Maysville, W.Va./Petersburg) for a gain of 34 yards. A four-yard run by
Roger Walker (Palm Bay, Fla./Bayside) moved the ball to the Geneva 23-yard line and set the stage for Fields, who delivered on the next play.
Fields completed 22-of-30 pass attempts for 171 yards and the three touchdowns. He also ran for 32 yards on nine carries.
Geneva returned the opening kickoff to the Pioneer 38-yard line and needed only five plays to score the first points of the game. Trewon Marshall ran it in from four yards out for a 6-0 lead two minutes into the game.
The point after kick failed and started what would become a string of five straight miscues on extra points in the game, three by Geneva and two by Marietta.
Marietta was forced to punt on its next possession and the Golden Tornadoes took over on their own 38-yard line. In a drive that was all Marshall, the bruising running back carried the ball seven times for 59 yards, including a 15-yard TD scamper pushing the lead to 12-0 with 5:41 left in the first quarter.
Walker finally got the Pioneers on the board with a seven-yard run early in the second period. But Geneva answered right back as Bryan Stafford connected with Collin Kendrick on a 27-yard scoring strike making it 18-6 midway through the second quarter.
Neither team scored on its first possession of the second half. After forcing Geneva to punt, Marietta grinded out a 13-play, 69-yard scoring drive. Barker gained 26 yards on a pass from Fields setting up a first-and-goal for Marietta at the Tornado five-yard line.
Two rushes and an incomplete pass left the Pioneers with a fourth-and-goal at the five. Marietta head coach
Andy Waddle elected to go for it and Fields delivered a perfect strike to Clark for the score.
Clark was Marietta leading rusher with 77 yards on 16 carries. He had two receptions for nine yards and the touchdown. Walker finished with 63 yards on 15 carries.
Embrescia's kick was off target, but Geneva was whistled for roughing the kicker. With the ball at the two, Marietta tried for the two-point conversion and Walker was tackled short of the goal line leaving MC six points behind, 18-12, with 6:56 left in the third quarter.
Geneva needed just five plays to reach the endzone and push its lead to 25-12. Marshall had runs of 8, 14, 15 and 30 yards on the drive. Kendrick finished the drive with an eight-yard touchdown run. Andrew Dowler hit the point after ending the streak of misses.
Trailing by two scores and time winding down, Marietta had little room for error when it put the ball in play at its own 35-yard line. The Pioneers once again engineered a long scoring drive. Marietta used 12 plays to cover the 65 yards with Fields hitting Smith on a five-yard touchdown with 7:28 left in the game. Embrescia added the point after to cut the Geneva lead to 25-19.
The Pioneer defense held on the next possession setting up the game winning drive for Fields and the MC offense. Linebackers
Nick O'Neal (Mont Belvieu, Texas/Barbers Hill) and
Tyler Ruhl (Fredericktown, Ohio/Fredericktown) led the defense with 11 and 10 tackles, respectively.
After Marietta took the lead, any hopes of a last second miracle for the Golden Tornadoes was dashed when
Marquese Moore (Aliquippa, Pa./Aliquippa) intercepted a Stafford Pass near midfield.
After a week off, Marietta is back in action on Saturday (Sept. 16) for a 1:30 p.m. match up against nationally ranked Mount Union in Don Drumm Stadium.
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.
