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JOHNSTON: Joe Bergin feeling, looking good

Joe Bergin has had an amazing comeback. The seventh-year Marietta College men’s boss faced a life without Pioneer soccer for five-plus weeks last May and June with a heart issue and a journey to the Cleveland Clinic. But happy to say, Bergin, a former MC soccer standout and 1986 grad, was back coaching and preparing for the 2019 season at the start of the summer. “They fixed all the things they needed to fix, and the heart works,” said Bergin after Marietta College defeated the Baldwin Wallace University Yellow Jackets, 3-1, Saturday night in a showdown match at Marietta ...

Tigers looking for more payback against ’Dogs

Marietta High got some partial payback against Athens High during the regular season when it blanked the Bulldogs, 6-0, at Jerry Brock Field on Sept. 19. Now, the Todd Morris-coached Tigers, No. 8 in the OSSCA State Poll with a 17-0-1 record (5-0-1 ECOL), will be looking to end Athens’ 2019 ...

Warren headed in right direction

VINCENT — Friday’s football game between Warren and Williamstown will ultimately go down as a loss for the Warriors. In the grand scheme of things, though, it’s possible the game will be looked at as a turning point for the program. Williamstown, a perennial W.Va. Class A football powerhouse, got everything it could handle from Warren. On the game-deciding play in the final seconds of the fourth quarter, the Yellowjackets came up with an interception in the end zone to seal the Warriors’ fate. The thing is, this game could have been decided much sooner. Williamstown held ...

Marietta booters are still unbeaten

At halftime, during last Thursday night's Marietta High at Warren High rivalry girls' soccer match, the Jeff Price-coached Tigers got a rousing pep talk and cheer from senior Ethan Feathers. The score was 0-0 at the intermission. "We go to the boys' games all the time," said MHS girls' senior co-captain Maria Pfaff. "And we see how Ethan can motivate his team." Feathers plays outside attacking mid for the the Todd Morris-led Tiger booters. "So, we thought," continued Pfaff, "why not bring him to this game. "I mean, of all games, this would be the one to bring him to." Well, whether ...

JOHNSTON: MHS girls’ booters have a legit squad

DEVOLA — Marietta High’s girls soccer team welcomed back Gretchen Lankford on Senior Day Saturday at Jerry Brock Field. The starting junior defender had gone four weeks and two days since playing in her last match due to a copperhead snake bite in the Broughton Nature Preserve. The 16-year-old Lankford’s return to the pitch makes a strong team even stronger. And, never was that more evident than when the undefeated Tigers, 13th-ranked in the OSSCA Division I State Poll with a 12-0 overall record (5-0 ECOL), dominated Minford, 5-0, Saturday on a hat trick by Courtney Schuck and ...

Tigers and Lions on the pitch Saturday night, oh, my

DEVOLA — Sean Fournier made an unbelievable goal Tuesday night at Jerry Brock Field. Late in Marietta High’s match against Zanesville High, the 6-foot, 175-pound senior lined up to boot a corner kick from the left side. Usually, co-captain Jake Craven takes the CKs, but he was rested with 17:38 left in the match and the Tigers up 7-0. With both the MHS and ZHS teams positioned in the goal mouth and penalty box, Fournier approached the ball from a little angle and right-footed it. The next thing everybody knew, the ball swerved low to the ground untouched and inside the far right ...