ALLIANCE, Ohio — Mount Union scored 20 unanswered points to defeat Marietta College, 20-3, Friday (April 2) night in Ohio Athletic Conference football action. The loss drops the Pioneers to 1-2 on the season and 1-2 in the OAC. The Purple Raiders improve to 3-0 overall and 3-0 in conference play.
Marietta got on the board first with a 36-yard field goal from
Logan Alward (Middletown, Ohio/Madison). The Pioneers first drive of the game was their best of the night. Marietta took possession on its own 33-yard line and drove into Mount Union territory. The drive appeared to stall when the Pioneers were forced to punt on fourth down at the Mount Union 40-yard line.
A personal foul call against the Purple Raiders kept the drive alive. Two rushes resulted in no gain and an eight-yard pass completion left the Pioneers with a fourth down at the Purple Raider 19. Head coach
Andy Waddle elected to kick the field goal and Alward converted for the 3-0 lead with 3:32 left in the first quarter.
Mount Union answered with a seven-play scoring drive of its own. Quarterback Braxton Plunk completed 5-of-6 passes for 84 yards, including a 16-yard touchdown to Jaden Manley, on the drive. The point after attempt failed leaving the score 6-3.
Special teams play led to Mount Union's next points in the game. Punter Ryan Hoprich pinned the Pioneers at their own 11-yard line. A sack moved the ball back to the two. Marietta handed the ball off to running back
Bryce Agnew (Brook Park, Ohio/Berea-Midpark) on second down and he was brought down in the end zone for a safety and an 8-3 Purple Raider lead at the half.
Mount Union scored added a touchdown in the third quarter and another in the fourth. Plunk hit Ulice Gillard for a 19-yard touchdown in the third. Marietta blocked the extra point. In the fourth, Plunk hooked up with Wayne Ruby on a 47-yard touchdown. The Purple Raiders missed another PAT and led 20-3 with 9:20 left in the game.
Marietta, short-handed on offense due to COVID contact tracing on the offensive line and the receiving corps, struggled to get its offense going.
Quarterback
Ethan Brown (Dublin, Ohio/Dublin Coffman) completed 12-of-21 passes for 61 yards. He was picked off once. Agnew carried the ball 20 times for 66 yards.
Plunk finished 27-of-47 for 327 yards and three touchdowns. Ruby caught nine passe for 129 yards and one score. Josh Petruccelli carried the ball 21 times for 74 yards.
Kyler Folkert (West Lafayette, Ohio/Dover) led the Pioneer defense with eight tackles.
Drake Neuberger (Norwalk, Ohio/Norwalk) added 2.0 sacks in the game and leads the OAC with 6.0 on the season.
Marietta returns home to host rival Muskingum University next Friday (April 9) in the final divisional game of the spring season. Kickoff at Don Drumm Stadium is set for 7 p.m.
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.
