MARIETTA, Ohio – Senior James Knox returned a blocked field goal 84-yards for a touchdown to put Marietta College in front as the Pioneers went on to defeat visiting Otterbein University by the score of 21-10 Saturday (Nov. 9) afternoon at Don Drumm Stadium.
The Pioneers improve to 5-4 overall and 4-4 in the Ohio Athletic Conference. Otterbein slips to 2-7 on the season and 2-6 in the OAC.
"The story of the game is number 38. It is a sad story losing a young man like Joel Wunnenberg," Marietta head coach Andy Waddle said. "But it's a special story too and our seniors keep doing amazing things when they are wearing Joel's number 38. It was a tight game and Knox takes the blocked kick and goes and scores. That was a 10-point swing in a game we won by 11. And then he gets the pick to end the game."
Otterbein received the opening kickoff and drove the ball 40 yards on 10 plays but the Marietta defense held strong. The Pioneer defense forced a turnover on downs, to halt the Cardinals' first drive.
The next three possessions resulted in punts, and Otterbein held the ball with 5:46 to play in the first quarter. The Cardinals drove 61 yards, with most of it coming on 32-yard pass from Logan Pharmer to Dylan Tuggle. Pharmer completed 25-of-50 passes on the day for 353 yards.
Marietta kept Otterbein off the scoreboard when the Cardinals fumbled the snap on a field goal attempt and Logan Domer made the tackle for loss to give the ball back to the Pioneers.
Otterbein opened the scoring with just under six minutes to play in the first half. The Cardinals scoring drive was 13 plays and spanned 73 yards. The drive was capped by a Nate Strong 25-yard field goal, to put Otterbein on top 3-0.
The Pioneers answered on the final drive of the first half, as Marietta drove 64 yards on 16 plays. The scoring drive was kept alive by a fourth down conversion on a pass from Kyle McSweeney to Austin Veatch for 11-yards. The drive was capped by a nine-yard touchdown pass by McSweeney to Justin Bell. Jacob Griffin converted the extra point and the Pioneers led 7-3 at the half.
"We had some problems on both sides of the ball but I thought we were really good in the red zone," Waddle said. "That score before the half was really big."
McSweeney completed 16-of-24 passes for 150 yards. Veatch finished with five catches for 50 yards, while Bell had two receptions for 11 yards and the touchdown. Ryan VanMeter finished with four catches for 51 yards.
The Cardinals second drive of the third quarter saw them move down to the Marietta 13-yard line. Once again, the Pioneer defense forced an Otterbein field goal attempt. Tay Pryor came around the edge to block the kick and James Knox picked up the loose ball and raced 84-yards for the touchdown. The scoop and score provided Marietta with a 14-3 lead with 5:47 to play in the third quarter.
Otterbein answered on its ensuing drive marching 76-yards on eight plays. The drive was sparked by a 34-yard scamper from Jordan Bost-Floyd. Jacob Leonardi capped the drive with an 8-yard run up the middle to cut the Pioneers' lead to 14-10 with 4:07 left in the third quarter. Bost-Floyd led the Cardinals with 73 yards rushing on 13 carries.
The Marietta defense set up off the offense when Carson Stauffer recovered a fumble by Pharmer to put the Pioneers in business at the Cardinal 30-yard line.
Marietta covered the 30-yards in four plays and capped the drive with an 8-yard touchdown run from freshman Bryce Agnew, to put the Pioneers on top 21-10 a minute into the final quarter. Agnew had nine carries for 27 yards on the day, while Tanner Clark carried the ball 13 times for 41 yards.
Marietta held Otterbein scoreless in the final quarter and ended all hopes of a Cardinal comeback with back to back sacks from Kyle Gallagher and Stauffer. Knox sealed the 21-10 victory with an interception in the final seconds of the game. Gallagher finished with eight tackles, a pair of sacks and one forced fumble.
"Gallagher has played at an all-conference level," Waddle said. "He is relentless on his pass rush and he is good at stuffing the run. He is really important to us."
Marietta will return to the field Saturday (Nov. 16) when they host the No. 1 ranked University of Mount Union on Senior day. Kickoff is scheduled for 1:30 p.m.
Special Teams play is the difference in Marietta's 21-10 win over Otterbein
/seasons/2019/boxscores/20191109_y8qo.xml
2019
Otterbein
10
Marietta
21
| Final | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | T |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Otterbein (2-7) | 0 | 3 | 7 | 0 | 10 |
| Marietta (5-4) | 0 | 7 | 7 | 7 | 21 |
Nov 09, 2019