ALLIANCE, Ohio — No. 1 Mount Union scored three defensive touchdowns as the Purple Raiders defeated Marietta College by the score of 49-7 Saturday (Nov. 10) afternoon in the regular season finale for both schools.
Marietta finishes the season 7-3 overall and 6-3 in the Ohio Athletic Conference. Mount Union claimed the OAC crown with a perfect 10-0 record; 9-0 in the OAC.
Mount Union took the opening kickoff and marched 51 yards on five plays for the early lead. Purple Raider quarterback D'Angelo Fulford capped the drive with a 21-yard touchdown run. Cory Barnett added the extra point.
Fulford left the game on Mount's next possession and never returned. Ernie Burkes took over at quarterback and put the Purple Raiders ahead 14-0 with a 1-yard touchdown run with 10:01 left in the first quarter.
Two interceptions returned for touchdowns and a fumble returned for a score extended the Mount Union lead to 35-0 as the first quarter came to a close. The Purple Raiders added two more touchdowns in the second quarter and took a 49-0 lead into halftime.
Marietta started with the ball in the third quarter and put together the best offensive drive of the day. The Pioneers started at their own 25-yard after a fair catch on the kickoff. Marietta engineered a 16-play drive that lasted seven minutes and ended with
Justin Bell (Manassas, Va./) diving in from a yard out for the score.
Jimmy Embrescia (Northfield, Ohio/Nordonia) added the extra point.
Senior quarterback
Darrien Fields (Aliquippa, Pa./Aliquippa) completed 18-of-36 passes for 172 yards. With the 18 completions, Fields finished the season with 202 equaling the school record set by Jason Vrable in 2006.
Bell was Marietta's leading rusher with 81 yards and one touchdown on 19 carries. Robert nelson caught six passes for 54 yards, while
Ryan Van Meter (Maysville, W.Va./Petersburg) had four receptions for 52 yards.
Defensively, senior linebacker
Garrett Davis (Marietta, Ohio/Marietta) ended his time in the Navy Blue and White with a career-high 21 tackles. With 12 solo and nine assisted tackles Davis had the most stops in a game since Aaron Barbour recorded 24 tackles against Heidelberg in 1997.
The Pioneers say goodbye to 14 seniors including Davis, Embrescia, Fields,
Christopher Dowell (North Canton, Ohio/Hoover),
Payton Henderson (Chandlersville, Ohio/Philo),
Casey Huhn (Sheffield Lake, Ohio/Brookside),
Brendan Mulholland (Pittsburgh, Pa./Brentwood),
Kris Otto (Huber Heights, Ohio/Wayne),
Michael Quealy (Fairfield, Pa./Fairfield Area),
Caleb Riggleman (Beverly, W.Va./Elkins),
Tyler Ruhl (Fredericktown, Ohio/Fredericktown),
Michael Sturgill (McDermott, Ohio/Portsmouth),
Jake Tracewell (Waverly, W.Va./Williamstown) and
Javi Zaragoza (Tomball, Texas/Tomball Memorial)
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.
