MARIETTA, Ohio — Marietta College scored 23 second half points to come from behind and beat Capital University, 32-10, Saturday (Sept. 19) afternoon in Ohio Athletic Conference football action. The Pioneers improve to 2-1 overall and 1-1 in the OAC. Capital moves to 2-1 and 1-1 in the OAC.
"Our message to the guys was start fast, eliminate turnovers, and win the field position battle. We didn't do any of three and got ourselves in a hole early in the first half," Marietta head coach
Tom Hinkle said. "It was not as much what they were doing to us as we hurting ourselves. We were in our own way. I knew we'd be fine once we were able to clear our minds and get some momentum rolling."
After a scoreless first quarter, Capital got on the board with a 30-yard field goal from Jensen Petro with 4:26 left in the second quarter. The Comets got the ball on the Marietta 26-yard line when Jio Rodriguez intercepted a
Joe Tenta (Palm Bay, Fla./Heritage) pass. Capital moved the ball to the 13-yard line before stalling and settling for the field goal.
Marietta answered with a 7-play, 65-yard scoring drive. Tenta hit
Matthew Krutowskis (Marysville, Ohio/Marysville) on a 27-yard touchdown pass to cap the drive. The extra point was blocked.
The Pioneer lead was short-lived as Bailey Johnson took the ensuing kickoff to the house. Johnson fielded the kick on the 3-yard line and raced up the Capital sideline for the touchdown and a 10-6 lead.
Marietta cut the lead to one, 10-9, with a 20-yard field goal from
Nathaniel Demuth (New Philadelphia, Ohio/New Philadelphia) with five seconds left in the half.
The second half belonged to the Pioneer defense. Marietta held Capital to just three first downs and 42 yards of total offense in the second half. The Comets crossed midfield just one time in the final 30 minutes.
"Our defense has been playing phenomenal all year. 10 points on the scoreboard doesn't do them justice with seven points coming on special teams," Hinkle said. "They kept us in the game and allowed us to get some time to get things rolling on the offensive side of the ball. Coach (Austin) Cordova does an awesome job of getting those guys ready to rock."
Marietta took the second half kickoff and marched 75 yards in 10 plays for a touchdown to retake the lead for good. Tenta connected with
Dalton Miller (Grove City, Ohio/Bishop Ready) on a 4-yard touchdown pass. MC's two-point conversion attempt failed leaving the Pioneer lead at 15-10.
On its next possession, Capital fumbled the snap on the punt giving Marietta the ball in Comet territory. Tenta quickly made Capital pay for the mistake connecting with
Payton Newman (Ringgold, Ga./Heritage) on a 25-yard touchdown on the third play of the drive. After the extra point, MC led 22-10.
The Comets had a penalty on the kickoff and started their next drive from their own 11-yard line.
Lukas Ratliff (New Lexington, Ohio/New Lexington) had a strip sack in the endzone and the ball rolled over the end line for a safety and a 24-10 Pioneer lead.
The Pioneers recorded their second safety of the game when Ratliff blocked a Comet punt out of the back of the endzone to start the fourth quarter making it 26-10. Marietta added another touchdown when
Antwon Johnson (Monaca, Pa./Central Valley) ran the ball in from three yards out with 3:14 left in the game. The extra point failed for a 32-10 Pioneer lead.
Tenta completed 26-of-42 passes for 361 yards and three touchdowns. Miller had nine catches for 98 yards and one score.
Benny Lewis (Jacksonville, Fla./Baker County) led the MC ground attack with 88 yards on 22 carries.
Tyler Love completed 12-of-33 passes for 85 yards for the Comets. Preston Hannika had five receptions for 35 yards. Brandon Hambric rushed for 48 yards on 11 carries.
Marietta plays at Otterbein University next Saturday (Sept. 26) at 2:00 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.
