Marietta College rolls past St. John Fisher in season-opener, 31-7
Trending
MARIETTA -- Marietta College was in total control from start to finish in Saturday's 31-7 season-opening win over St. John Fisher.
The Pioneers dominated the time of possession (40:18 to 19:42) and ran 71 offensive plays to the Cardinals' 48. MC head coach Andy Waddle said that's a pretty good recipe for success.
"You see 31 points and you don't realize how efficient we were offensively," said Waddle, whose Pioneers have started 1-0 six out of the last seven years. "We put together some long drives and were able to continue to move the clock. You really control the game when you're doing that. Sometimes people want to score 60 points. I think the way we performed offensively today was really an efficient day. Maybe not eye-popping to the stats, but that was a really solid day offensively."
It also helps when your quarterback-receiver duo is working in perfect harmony. Marietta signal-caller Connor Vierstra had one of his best games in the navy blue and white, completing 19 of 24 passes for 195 yards and two touchdowns. Teammate Dawson Snyder was his go-to target all afternoon, nabbing 10 catches for 109 yards, including touchdown of 28 and 2 yards.
"They had a great camp," Waddle said. "Connor was efficient and found the open guys."
Vierstra and Snyder have developed a strong connection since 2021, which was Snyder's freshman year and Vierstra's first year as Marietta's starting QB.
"Connor had a hell of a game," Snyder said. "He knows when I'm open. He feels when I'm open. He trusts me. I trust him. He delivers the ball. I catch it. That's how it's going to go the whole year."
Marietta struck first offensively as a 35-yard run by Bryce Agnew put the Pioneers deep into St. John Fisher territory. Three plays later, Agnew powered his way into the end zone from a yard out to make it 7-0. Marietta's star running back finished with 93 yards on 20 carries.
The Cardinals, who had Kyle Farewell miss a 45-yard field goal try on their opening possession, went three-and-out on their second drive. Marietta once again drove right down the field, but Matthew Gossett's 37-yard field goal attempt was wide right to keep the score at 7-0.
St. John Fisher got on the board when Ethan Curtis hauled in a 45-yard touchdown pass from Aaron Chase to tie the game with 9:01 left in the second quarter.
The Cardinals' momentum was short-lived as Snyder returned the ensuing kickoff 97 yards to the house to put the Pioneers back in front.
Looking to answer, St. John Fisher drove to Marietta's 28-yard line before a Harley Hopkins sack stopped the Cardinals in their tracks.
A pair of catches by Jay Melchiori netted 21 yards and put the ball at St. John Fisher's 28. From there, Vierstra hit Snyder in the end zone for a touchdown pass to make it 21-7 at halftime. Snyder had to come back to the ball and outleap a defender to make the catch.
"Our O-line protecting, giving me time to get open," Snyder said, "and I'll finish it for them."
To open the second half, Snyder had catches of 13 and 18 yards before capping the drive with a 2-yard TD reception to make it a three-score game.
A Jake Visnic sack and a Hopkins interception ended St. John Fisher's next two drives and led to a 28-yard field goal by Gossett, making it 31-7.
Eric Thurman intercepted St. John Fisher's backup QB Hunter Walsh on the Cardinals' final drive of the game to secure the victory.
"It was a workmanlike effort," Waddle said. "There wasn't any one thing that was eye-popping, but I thought offensively we were really able to be efficient moving the ball. Defensively, we gave up a couple big runs and a couple big passes which we have to get corrected. We don't want the big plays. But, on a down-by-down basis I thought we were good. It was a good day."
Peyton Nolan led St. John Fisher's rushing attack with 79 yards on 11 attempts. Chase completed 10 of 23 passes for 170 yards. Michael Escobar was his top receiver with 75 yards on five receptions.
The Pioneers, who got a team-high five tackles from Brady McManaway, have a bye week before turning their attention to perennial power Mount Union on Sept. 16.
"You want to be 1-0," Waddle said. "Traditionally (St. John Fisher is) a very good program. We were able to go and get the dub today which was nice."
Contact Jordan Holland at jholland@mariettatimes.com.