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MC’s ‘6th man’ fun-loving and indispensable

Whenever Marietta College senior All-American A.J. Edwards got the ball down in the low blocks, it was basically curtains for the Baldwin Wallace defender.

And, the sold-out, partisan crowd at Ban Johnson Arena knew it.

“Here he comes,” yelled one Marietta College fan.

“Here he comes,” another repeated.

Making his move, the 6-foot-5 Edwards, who is left-handed, dribbled right with his back to the basket and the Yellow Jacket leaning on him. Once he got centered in the paint, he delivered his patented baby hook and scored — early and often.

Edwards had nine of his team’s first 11 points en route to an 83-74 Pioneer triumph in Saturday’s Ohio Athletic Conference Tournament championship game.

“I told you so,” said a fan after each Edwards’ score. It was almost like the fan was addressing the BW defender face-to-face.

“Here he comes, here he comes.”

This went on for pretty much the entire contest, and Baldwin Wallace was helpless to do anything about it. If a BW guard tried to double up and interrupt Edwards’ dribble, the Yellow Jacket was usually too late. Or, Edwards would pass the ball back out to the perimeter.

“We have such good shooters,” said Edwards, the OAC tourney MVP. “They spread the floor, and make my job a lot easier.”

So do the Marietta College fans, who are one of the reasons why the seventh-ranked Pioneers are undefeated at the BanJo this winter.

“The crowd is a tremendous help,” Edwards said. “This crowd is like no other. It has an atmosphere like no other. It’s one of the best in the nation — if not the best.”

You’ve just got to love what the fans are saying.

“C’mon, ref, they’re (other team) playing football out there,” said George “Offy” Offenberger, a longtime Pioneer supporter.

Or, sometimes he’d say, “Ref, I think you need bifocals. In fact, all three of you (refs) need them. You’re just awful.”

Offy usually tries to keep the officials in line.

Then, whenever a BW player missed a shot, you’d hear someone yell out “Doink” from the crowd. People laughed and were having a good time.

Of course, one of the more common chants was “Where’s the foul, ref. Use that whistle for something.” A lot of times, the fans would follow MC head coach Jon VanderWal’s lead.

Then, there’s the Marietta College student section. All of them are standing, and making non-stop noise from the opening tip-off to the final buzzer. They’re clearly having a good time.

When Baldwin Wallace came out for warmups before the game, the visitors from Berea were booed good-naturedly. (The fans do this to all MC opponents.)

Most of the Yellow Jackets just grinned at the boos, but after the end of the game, they weren’t.

During the contest, the students usually like to pick on one opposing player, and chant his name, “We want so-and-so. We want so-and-so.”

Obviously, they’re just trying to get into that particular player’s head.

As the “sixth man,” the fans do a great job, and while a little intimidating at times, are also fair-minded. Whenever an opponent gets hurt and has to be helped off the court, a round of applause can be heard for the player.

Near the end of Saturday night’s final, many of the Pioneer faithful started chanting, “VanderWal!, VanderWal! VanderWal!

“Yeah, we like him a lot,” one fan added.

No question about it, you could feel the love. It was really neat.

Marietta College is scheduled to host Calvin College in an NCAA Division III Tournament opener Friday at 8 p.m. The crowd once again will be loud and clear in voicing their support for the Pioneers.

The refs, of course, will be reminded that they need “bifocals.”

And, whenever Edwards touches the ball, it goes without saying what will be said.

“Here he comes, here he comes. I told you so.”

Ron Johnston is a Marietta Times sports writer, and can be reached at rjohnston@mariettatimes.com

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