Game Leaders
Team Stats
Passing Yards
Rushing Yards
Turnovers
Time of Poss.
MARIETTA, Ohio — No. 2 ranked Mount Union downed Marietta College by the score of 28-0 Saturday (Sept. 16) afternoon in the Ohio Athletic Conference opener for both schools. The Pioneers fall to 1-1 overall and 0-1 in the OAC. Mount Union improves to 2-0 on the season and 1-0 in the OAC.
Mount Union's All-American duo of quarterback Braxton Plunk and wide receiver Wayne Ruby staked the Purple Raiders to a 28-0 first-half lead. Mount Union took the opening kickoff and marched 79 yards on nine plays to grab the lead. Plunk connected with Chase Lawson on a 9-yard touchdown to cap the drive.
After forcing Marietta to punt, Plunk was picked off trying to get the ball to Ruby. However, the Pioneers were not able to capitalize on the Purple Raider mistake and turned the ball over on downs at the Mount Union 27-yard line.
The Purple Raiders needed just one play to double the lead as Plunk hit Ruby for a 73-yard touchdown pass.
Mount Union added two more scores in the second quarter. Plunk found Ruby open in the endzone on a 7-yard touchdown and then hooked up with Tre Radford on a 25-yard scoring strike.
Plunk finished the game with 286 passing yards and four touchdowns while completing 20-of-30 passes. He was picked off twice. Ruby caught 10 passes for 173 yards and two scores, while Radford had three catches for 53 yards and a touchdown. On the ground, DeAndre Parker had 13 carries for 76 yards.
Marietta's defense kept the Purple Raiders out of the endzone in the second half as the Pioneers sacked Plunk three times and intercepted another pass.
O.C. Nurse picked off that second Plunk pass in the third quarter. Marietta's offense started to gain traction. Quarterback Conner Viertsra connected with Jay Melchiori on a 45-yard completion giving the Pioneers a first down at the Mount Union 8-yard line. The scoring threat ended when John Roland made a diving interception in the endzone.
After forcing Mount Union to punt, two big pass plays set Marietta up inside the Purple Raider 5-yard line. Vierstra hit John Sierputowski for 29 yards and then connected with Melchiori for 41 yards down to the Purple Raider 4-yard line.
Two rushes and an incomplete pass left the Pioneers with fourth down at the 7-yard line. Marietta elected to kick the field goal and Nathaniel Demuth's 24-yard attempt sailed wide right.
Vierstra completed 11-of-19 passes for 176 yards. He was picked off once. Melchiori caught five passes for 116 yards. It was tough running for All-American running back Bryce Agnew. Agnew carried the ball 16 times for 26 yards.
Harley Hopkins led the Pioneer defense with 12 total tackles, including 1.0 sack. Chance Knight finished with 2.0 sacks and seven total tackles.
Marietta closes out a three-game homestand next Saturday (Sept. 23) when the Pioneers host Otterbein University. Kickoff is set for 1:30 p.m.