MARIETTA, Ohio — After falling behind 10-0 in the first quarter, Marietta College responded with 20 straight points and went to defeat Otterbein University by the score of 47-31 Saturday (Sept. 13) evening at Don Drumm Stadium. The Pioneers improve to 2-0 overall and 1-0 in the Ohio Athletic Conference. The Cardinals fall to 0-2 overall and 0-1 in the OAC.
 
"When we were focused, we were able to move the effectively. Vante' (Hodges) showed again how special he is. When you have a guy getting that many yards it's kudos to the offensive line and the tight end," Marietta head coach Tom Kaufman said. " I kept telling everybody that there are no easy wins in the OAC. Otterbein is not a bad football team, and we did what we needed to do to win the game."
 
Otterbein took the opening kickoff and drove to the Marietta 6-yard line before settling for a 24-yard field goal from Braylon Balandra. The Cardinals forced Marietta to punt on its first possession and then went on a 12-play, 76-yard scoring drive. Troy Montgomery ran it in from three yards out for the touchdown. Balandra added the extra point for a 10-0 Otterbein lead.
 
Marietta wasted no time finding the endzone on the ensuing possession. Senior running back took the first play from scrimmage and ran it 65-yards for a touchdown. The extra point was blocked.
 
After forcing a three and out for the Cardinals, Marietta needed just four plays to find the endzone and take the lead. Antwon Johnson (Monaca, Pa./Central Valley) hit John Sierputowski (Mentor, Ohio/Mentor) on a 29-yard touchdown pass for the score. Nathaniel Demuth (New Philadelphia, Ohio/New Philadelphia) added the extra point making it 13-10 in favor of the Pioneers.
 
Marietta again forced Otterbein to punt and then put the ball back into Hodges' hands and he broke free for a 66-yard touchdown run. With the extra point, the Pioneers led 20-10.
 
The teams traded touchdowns in the final minutes of the first half. Otterbein capped a 6-play, 70-yard drive with a 36-yard pass from Brayden Bayles to Zane Duning. Marietta countered with an 8-play, 74-yard drive that ended with a 22-yard Johnson scoring run making it 27-17 at halftime.
 
Otterbein opened the second half scoring with a 1-yard Bayles run. Johnson responded with a 2-yard touchdown run. Following another Otterbein score, Hodges broke his third long run of the game going 64 yards for the touchdown. Marietta closed out the scoring with a 12-yard pass from Johnson to Matthew Krutowskis (Marysville, Ohio/Marysville).
 
Hodges carried the ball 16 times for a career-high 306 yards and three touchdowns. The Pioneers rushed for 389 total yards. Benny Lewis (Sanderson, Fla./Baker County) had seven carries for 43 yards and Johnson finished with 41 yards on five carries.
 
Johnson completed 6-of-16 passes for 108 yards and two touchdowns. Kenyon Franklin (Gallipolis, Ohio/Gallia Academy) caught three passes for 58 yards.
 
Harley Hopkins (Zanesville, Ohio/West Muskingum) led the Pioneer defense with 15 tackles. Brady McManaway (Pleasant City, Ohio/Meadowbrook), Taison Starr (Barnesville, Ohio/Barnesville), and Lukas Ratliff (New Lexington, Ohio/New Lexington) each had 10 tackles in the game.
 
Marietta is off next weekend and then travels to Capital University on Saturday (Sept. 27) for a 1:30 p.m. kickoff.
 
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 X and Instagram.