MARIETTA, Ohio — No. 12 ranked John Carroll University escaped with a 31-28 victory over Marietta College Saturday (Oct. 7) afternoon at Don Drumm Stadium. The Pioneers fall to 3-2 overall and 2-2 in the Ohio Athletic Conference. The Blue Streaks improve to 4-1 overall and 4-0 in the OAC.
"Falling behind 21-0 in the first quarter is pretty tough. We played much better in the second quarter," Marietta head coach Andy Waddle said. "I am really very proud of how we didn't let the first quarter faze us and we continued to play hard and had guys step up and make some big plays. That was a really good football game. We just ended up on the wrong side of it."
Trailing 31-21 with 5:41 left in the game, Marietta engineered an 11-play drive that covered 73 yards in just over three minutes to get within three points, 31-28. Senior quarterback Connor Vierstra completed five passes on the drive, three of which went to Dawson Snyder, including the 2-yard touchdown pass.
After a roughing the kicker penalty on the extra point, Marietta kicked off from the 50-yard line. The Pioneers' onside kick attempt ended up out of bounds giving the Blue Streaks the ball at their own 45-yard line with 2:21 left on the clock.
Three straight John Carroll rushes resulted in just four yards, but forced Marietta to use all of their timeouts. The Blue Streaks punted the ball back to Marietta with 1:59 remaining in the game.
Marietta put the ball in play at their own 20-yard. Vierstra was flushed out of the pocket on first down and ran for 14 yards. He completed three straight passes for 8, 10 and 14 yards moving the ball to the JCU 34-yard line.
On first down, Jahiem Peake sacked Vierstra for a loss of 9 yards. It was the first sack of the game for the Blue Streaks. Vierstra's second down pass to John Sierputowski was called incomplete and the Pioneers were whistled for an unsportsmanlike conduct penalty moving the ball back to the Marietta 42-yard line.
Two straight incomplete passes ended the Pioneer rally and turned the ball over to the Blue Streaks on downs. JCU killed the clock to secure the victory.
John Carroll started the game with 21 straight points in the first quarter. Quarterback Joe Collins hit Brennan Fugh on a 37-yard touchdown pass on their first possession of the game. An interception by Jacob Hufnagel gave the Blue Streaks the ball back and set up a 4-yard touchdown run by Jon Tomcufcik.
The Blue Streaks extended their lead to 21-0 when Collins and Fugh hooked up again. This time for 15 yards on the scoring strike.
Marietta responded with a 10-play, 80-yard drive for its first points of the game. Vierstra found Jay Melchiori in the endzone for a 21-yard touchdown. The Pioneers ended the half with an 11-play, 77-ayrd scoring drive capped by a 12-yard pass from Vierstra to Dawson. JCU led 21-14 at halftime.
Yanni Volas kicked a 35-yard field goal on John Carroll's first possession of the third quarter for a 24-14 lead. Once again Marietta responded with a long scoring drive. The Pioneers went 75-yards in 10 plays capped by a 9-yard pass from Vierstra to Dawson for the score cutting the lead to 24-21 heading to the fourth quarter.
Collins connected with Lucas D'Orazio on a 48-yard touchdown pass to put the Blue Streaks back up by 10 points, 31-21, and set the stage for Marietta's comeback bid.
Collins completed 16-of-21 passes for 217 yards and three touchdowns. He was intercepted once. D'Orazio caught five passes for 94 yards and a touchdown. Fugh had three catches for 60 yards and two scores. Mason Sullivan ran the ball 17 times for 90 yards.
Viertsra completed 34-of-50 passes for 395 yards and four touchdowns. Snyder had 15 catches for 164 yards and three touchdowns. Sierputowski and Melchiori each caught seven passes. Sierputowski had 82 receiving yards, while Melchiori had 80 yards and one touchdown. Agnew led the ground attack with 65 yards on 20 carries.
Marietta plays at Wilmington College next Saturday (Oct. 14). Kickoff is set for 2:00 p.m.
#12 John Carroll edges Marietta 31-28
/seasons/2023/boxscores/20231007_c1qw.xml
2023
John Carroll
31
Marietta
28
| Final | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | T |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| No. 17 John Carroll (4-1) | 21 | 0 | 3 | 7 | 31 |
| Marietta (3-2) | 0 | 14 | 7 | 7 | 28 |
Oct 07, 2023