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ALLIANCE -- Marietta College’s upset bid fell short at the University of Mount Union as the Pioneers lost, 27-21, Saturday afternoon. The loss drops Marietta to 3-2 overall and 2-2 in the Ohio Athletic Conference. Mount Union is 3-2 overall and 3-1 in the OAC.
“I am extremely proud of our effort and our fight. There were a lot of highs and lows and no matter the situation, we continued to battle,” Marietta head coach Tom Hinkle said. “We are excited to get back at it next week at home for homecoming. We will learn from this and come back next week with this exact same fight.”
Mount Union kicked field goals on its first two possessions for a 6-0 lead in the first quarter. Connell Rafferty connected from 29 yards and 37 yards to put the Purple Raiders in front.
The Pioneers managed just one first down on its first three possessions. Mount Union extended the lead to 13-0 when Mikey Maloney hit Mikey Reilly in the endzone for a 24-yard touchdown with 6:12 left in the first half.
After trading punts, Marietta put together its first quality drive of the afternoon. The Pioneers started from its own 20-yard line and went on a 9-play scoring drive. Quarterback Joe Tenta connected with his favorite target, Dalton Miller, for 35 yards early in the drive and then found Miller for a 19-yard touchdown strike to cap the drive. After James Cornwell added the extra point, Marietta trailed 13-7 with 31 seconds left in the half.
Maloney and the Purple Raiders took full advantage of those 31 seconds. Maloney completed four straight passes as Mount Union found the endzone with five seconds to spare. The touchdown came on a 54-yard pass to Mason Ashby and the Purple Raiders took a 20-7 lead into halftime.
Marietta’s defense tightened up in the second half forcing Mount Union to punt on its first two possessions of the third quarter. The Pioneers got within one score when Tenta connected with Nas Foster on a 15-yard touchdown with 4:21 left in the third.
Once again, the Purple Raiders responded, going on a 12-play, 70-yard scoring drive. Maloney completed 7-of-10 passes, including a 7-yard touchdown to Ashby, before the end of the quarter pushing the lead back to two scores, 27-14.
Mount Union got back into scoring position early in the fourth quarter. The Purple Raiders stalled at the Pioneer 26-yard line and attempted a 44-yard field which was no good.
Marietta took the momentum swing and went on a 74-yard scoring drive. Tenta connected with Foster on a 34-yard touchdown with 10:42 left in the game cutting the Raider lead to 27-21.
Marietta’s next two possessions ended on a punt and the Pioneers turned the ball over on downs. After the Pioneer defense held Mount Union one last time, Marietta got one last chance starting from its own 12-yard line with 1:26 left on the clock.
Tenta completed passes to four different receivers moving the ball to midfield. After an incomplete pass, Mount Union’s Gavin Ehrhardt sealed the victory when he intercepted Tenta’s next pass. The Purple Raiders were able to run out the clock as Marietta was out of timeouts.
“Defensively we settled in in the second half and came up with some really big stops. There are a lot of things to tighten up, but they kept us in the ball game,” Hinkle said. “On offense we didn’t start as fast as we would like, but the guys stayed positive and eventually we were able to put some drives together. We had some young guys step up and make some big plays. Overall they battled to the very end, and I am proud of that.”
Tenta finished with 379 yards on 36-of-62 passes, all career highs. He also tossed three touchdowns. Chrys Taylor had 10 catches for 109 yards, while Miller caught seven passes for 97 yards and one touchdown. Foster finished with five catches for 79 yards and two touchdowns.
Maloney completed 30-of-45 passes for 341 yards and three touchdowns. Ashby had five receptions for 109 yards and two scores. Brayden Harris caught nine passes for 76 yards, while OP Knox had six catches for 62 yards.
Marietta returns home to host Baldwin Wallace for Homecoming next Saturday. Kickoff is set for 1:30 p.m.