NEW WILMINGTON, Pa. — Marietta College utilized a ball-control offense and a stingy defense to beat Westminster College by the score of 12-8 Thursday (Sept. 4) evening. The win was the first for new Pioneer head coach Tom Kaufman.

"Super proud of the boys for the way they played the game. The guy played really hard for four quarters and never blinked. It was a very close game from wire to wire, and they rose to the challenge," Coach Kaufman said. "Tons of credit to Westminster, I think they have a chance to be conference champions in their conference, and I have a lot of respect for their program."

The Pioneers dominated time of possession holding the ball for over 41 minutes. Wilmington struggled to find a way to stop Marietta running back Vante' Hodges (Horn Lake, Miss./Horn Lake). The senior carried the ball 37 times for 171 yards and one of MC's two touchdowns.

"Levante' was an animal. I'm just very proud of him," Kaufman said. "We knew we were going to feed him but to get 37 carries is incredible. He ran with a lot of passion and energized our football team. Our offensive line and tight ends did a really good job of moving the line of scrimmage." 

Junior Antwon Johnson (Monaca, Pa./Central Valley) made his first career start at quarterback and was affective throwing the ball when he needed to be. Johnson completed 16-of-26 passes for 123 yards. He rushed for 22 yards on five carries and one touchdown.

"Antwon managed the game well," Kaufman said. "He made some really nice throws and a had couple of nice keeps to extend some drives.  He did everything we needed him to do. Our wide receivers deserve a lot of credit for the way they blocked tonight."

After trading punts on the first two possessions of the game, Marietta took over at its own 6-yard line and went on a 13-play drive that stalled when Marietta was flagged for holding. MC's defense again forced Westminster to punt, and the Pioneers went on a 15-play, 75-yard scoring drive.

Hodges capped the drive with a 1-yard run for the first points of the game. Marietta's two-point conversion attempt was no good. Both defenses controlled the remainder of the first half and Marietta took a 6-0 lead into halftime.

Westminster returned the second half kickoff to the Pioneer 33-yard line for its deepest penetration into Marietta territory of the game. The Titans needed just three plays to find the endzone.

Ty McGowan rushed for seven yards and a Marietta penalty added 15 more yards. After a 1-yard run by Sean O'Shea, McGowan hit Taite Beachy for a 12-yard touchdown pass. The point after snap was bad, but Craig Sonson was able to find Nathan Wadsworth in the endzone for the two-point conversion and an 8-6 lead.

The Pioneers responded with another long drive covering 73 yards in 13 plays. Johnson ran it in from three yards out for the go-ahead touchdown. Once again, the Pioneers went for two and failed leaving the score 12-8 in favor of Marietta.

Marietta had a chance to go up by two scores when the Pioneers drove to the Titan -yard line. After two Lewis rushes, MC had a third and goal at 3-yard line. Hodges got the call and fumbled the ball. He recovered it but Marietta was again flagged after the play moving the ball back to the Titan 25-yard line. The Pioneers' 42-yard field goal attempt was wide right.

Westminster had one last chance to win the game when McGowan scrambled for 26 yards to the Marietta 45-yard. But Zander Stroup (Kimbolton, Ohio/Ridgewood) knocked the ball loose on the play and Leo Grandizio (Garrettsville, Ohio/Garfield) recovered it for the Pioneers. Marietta went into victory formation and ran the clock out.

Marietta's defense limited Westminster to just seven first downs and 183 yards of total offense. The Pioneers held the Titans to 77 yards rushing. Senior linebacker Harley Hopkins (Zanesville, Ohio/West Muskingum) led the defense with nine tackles.

"Defensively, we played lights out and had just an unbelievable performance. We talked about killing the run, not letting them run the football, and they did a really really nice job," Kaufman said. "Zander stripping the ball at the end of that scramble was just an unbelievable football play. That's a great example of our culture. Never quit."

McGowan completed 9-of-20 passes for 106 yards and one touchdown. He rushed for 50 yards on six carries. Beachy had four catches for 44 yards and the touchdown. On defense, Dylan Sleva amassed an impressive 25 tackles.

Marietta returns home to host Otterbein University on Saturday (Sept. 13). Kickoff is set for 7 p.m.

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.