MC gives Mount Union all it can handle
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ALLIANCE, Ohio -- 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.”
ARIZONA 24, WVU 17
MORGANTOWN -- West Virginia needed to respond to Arizona's quick touchdown before the half. The Wildcats had a 24-17 lead and received the ball out of the locker room. The Mountaineers had just over two minutes to drive down the field.
Quarterback Michael Hawkins Jr. chucked the ball deep to USC and Boise State transfer receiver Prince Strachan. The ball was a bit underthrown, but Strachan adjusted and caught the ball through contact for a 40-yard gain. Just like that, the Mountaineers had a chance to put points on the board before the half.
Running back Cam Cook caught a pass to put WVU inside the 10. The next play, Cook received the handoff, and disaster struck, as he had it stripped out for a fumble.
Hey, one fumble, no big deal. Nope. The Mountaineers can't afford to fumble, or punt or even kick a field goal because the defense can't create a stop.
Arizona came out of the locker room and went 75 yards on three plays for a touchdown. Just like that, it was 38-24 and a two-score game.
"Offensively, there is probably a little bit of feeling like pressure," WVU coach Rich Rodriguez said. "You can’t have a turnover. You got to score on every possession, and it’s just extremely frustrating."
OHIO 31, CENTRAL MICHIGAN 14
ATHENS, Ohio (AP) -- Nick Poulos threw three first-half touchdown passes and Ohio extended the nation’s second longest current home winning streak to 16 with a 31-14 victory over Central Michigan on a rainy Saturday.
Defending champion Indiana’s 19-game run at home is the only streak longer than the Bobcats’.
Duncan Brune broke through for a 23-yard touchdown on a third-and-3 run and Ohio (4-2, 2-0 Mid-American Conference) took a 7-0 lead in the first quarter and never looked back. Brune rushed four times for 47 of the 62 yards on the drive and finished with 91 yards on 16 carries.
Central Michigan turned it over on downs at the Bobcats’ 35-yard line, and Riley Neer caught a 3-yard touchdown pass from Poulos eight plays later for a 14-0 advantage.
Will Hryszko kicked a short field goal early in the second quarter, and Poulos followed with touchdown passes covering 1 yard to Preston Bowman and 44 yards to Dom Dorwart for a 31-0 lead at halftime.
Central Michigan was held to 78 yards of offense in the first half, including 19 rushes for 19 yards.
Jayden Clerveaux scored on a 15-yard run for the Chippewas in the third quarter and Nick Woodford added a 20-yard touchdown run in the fourth.
Angel Flores completed 14 of 20 passes for 112 yards for Central Michigan (3-3, 1-1).
The Bobcats have posted back-to-back victories over the Chippewas, who lead the all-time series 27-8-2.
COASTAL CAROLINA 27, MARSHALL 21
HUNTINGTON, W.Va. (AP) -- Dominic Lee-Knicely rushed for 169 yards and a touchdown, and Coastal Carolina held on to beat Marshall 27-21 on Saturday.
The Chanticleers (2-4, 1-1 Sun Belt Conference) forced six turnovers and led 13-0 at halftime before scoring twice early in the third quarter.
Lee-Knicely broke a 70-yard touchdown run on the first play of the second half to make it 20-0, and Jaden Allen-Hendrix added a 2-yard touchdown run less than three minutes later to extend the lead to 27 points.
Marshall (3-3, 0-2) got on the board when Judah Price scored on a 50-yard run late in the third quarter.
The Thundering Herd pulled within 27-14 on Zion Turner’s 9-yard touchdown pass to Price with 2:52 remaining before Turner connected with Owen Sweeney for a 19-yard score 38 seconds later.
Deuce Bailey’s 7-yard touchdown pass to Karmello English in the second gave Coastal Carolina its first touchdown of the game and a 10-0 advantage
Lee-Knicely averaged 6.8 yards on 25 carries and added three catches for 42 yards. Price rushed for 124 yards and a touchdown, while Turner threw for 219 yards and two scores.