MARIETTA, Ohio — Marietta College opened its spring football season with a 30-20 win over Baldwin Wallace University Friday (March 19) evening at Don Drumm Stadium. The Pioneers are 1-0 on the season, while the Yellow Jackets fall to 0-2 overall.
"Our defensive front played really well. They were dominate today. It was great to see Caleb (Boy) back out there," Marietta head coach Andy Waddle said. "Offensively, we ran the ball really well. Ethan (Brown) made some nice plays for his first start and he'll get better as the season goes along. The ground game and the o-line was much improved and we got some great blocks from out tight ends too."
Marietta scored first and never trailed in the game. The Pioneers' veteran defense forced four turnovers, scored a defensive extra point and sacked the Baldwin Wallace quarterback six times on the night.
The Pioneers were forced to punt on their first possession, but junior punter Bailey Sprague pinned Baldwin Wallace inside the 20-yard line. Back-to-back sacks by Marietta forced the Yellow Jackets to punt from their own end zone giving Marietta excellent field position on its next drive.
Starting from the BW 42-yard line, Marietta used a balanced attack to march down the field. Quarterback Ethan Brown completed three passes for 23 yards and Bryce Agnew had four carries for 21 yards, including a one-yard touchdown to get the Pioneers on the board. Logan Alward added the point after for a 7-0 MC lead.
Baldwin Wallace answered with their best drive of the night covering 56 yards in 13 plays to knot the score, 7-7. Gino Fornaro scored from two yards out to cap the drive. Dean Sarris's point after was good.
The Pioneer defense set up Marietta's next score. Linebacker Caleb Boy stripped the ball from BW quarterback Keagan Armitage and senior Kyle Gallagher recovered the ball on the Yellow Jacket 35-yard line.
Marietta wasted no time taking advantage of the strip sack. On the first play of the drive, Brown connected with Dre Baldwin on a 35-yard scoring strike. Alward's extra point made it 14-7 early in the second quarter.
Once again Baldwin Wallace answered right back. This time with a six-play, 70-yard drive. Armitage completed three passes to Darius Stokes on the drive including one for 53 yards. Jon Murray Jr. carried the ball in from the one making it 14-13.
Gallagher kept the Pioneers in front when he blocked the extra points. Dominick Glenn picked up the loose ball and returned it 98 yards for a defensive extra point and a 16-13 Pioneer lead.
After a scoreless third quarter, Marietta extended its lead early in the fourth. Malik Grier intercepted Armitage and gave C the ball in Yellow Jacket territory. Following an incomplete pass, Agnew ran for 11 yards and then followed that with a 29-yard TD run. Alward made it 23-13 with the extra point.
A poor 16-yard punt gave Marietta great field position once again. The Pioneers set up at the BW 26-yard line. After a nine-yard completion to Austin Veatch, Agnew had runs of three, six and eight yards for the touchdown making it 30-13 with 9:05 left on the clock.
Baldwin Wallace added a score in the final minutes of the game to cut the deficit to 30-20. Back-up quarterback AJ Miller hit Greg Parries for a three-yard score.
Agnew led the Pioneers with 97 yards rushing on 17 carries. He had three touchdowns. Justin Bell rushed for 43 yards on 14 carries. Brown completed 8-of-24 passes for 125 yards and one touchdown. He was picked off twice. Baldwin had three catches for 85 yards and a touchdown.
Armitage finished 15-of-27 for 154 passing yards. He was intercepted once. Miller was 5-of-12 for 63 yards and one touchdown. Stokes caught seven passes for 89 yards, while Parries had four catches for 17 yards and a touchdown. Murray carried the ball 17 times for just 26 yards and one touchdown.
Defensively, Vic Giovengo led the Pioneers with 11 tackles. Drake Neuberger had eight tackles, 2.5 tackles for a loss, including 2.0 sacks, and forced a fumble. Boy finished with eight tackles, 2.0 for a loss, 1.5 sacks and a forced fumble. Marietta limited Baldwin Wallace to just 19 yards rushing for the night.
Marietta travels to John Carroll University next Friday (March 26) for a 7 p.m. kickoff.