WESTERVILLE, Ohio — Senior quarterback Darrien Fields broke a pair of school records as the Pioneers defeated Otterbein University, 43-21, Saturday (Nov. 3) afternoon. Marietta improves to 7-2 overall and 6-2 in the Ohio Athletic Conference. With seven wins on the season, Marietta has equaled its most victories since going 7-3 in 1996.
"It's awesome to get number seven which is the most wins in over 20 years," Marietta head coach Andy Waddle said. "I'm really proud of our team and specifically our seniors."
Fields completed 28-of-33 passes for a Marietta record 414 yards and three touchdowns. The old single game mark for passing yards was 412 yards by Andrew Keller against Heidelberg in 2011.
Already the career leader in pass completions and passing touchdowns, Fields claimed the MC all-time record for passing yards. He entered today's game needing 349 yards to pass Jason Vrable's (2003-06) 6,102 yards for the career mark. Fields has 6,167 yards with one game remaining in the season.
"Darrien has had a great career," waddle said. "He's a tremendous athlete and he has won us a handful of games over the years just by his ability to get out of trouble. He is a bright and talented young man."
The Pioneer defense set the tone on the first play from scrimmage. Tay Pryor intercepted Otterbein quarterback Bryce Hall's pass and returned it 40 yards for the pick-six and a lightning quick 7-0 Marietta lead.
"Darrien had a very solid day throwing the ball and our receivers made him look good at times," waddle said. "We played solid defensively although we gave up the last touchdown when the game was in check."
After going three plays and a punt on its first offensive possession, Marietta started its second drive at its own 1-yard line following a 46-yard punt by Otterbein's Luke Green-Lauber.
The Pioneers engineered their best drive of the day going 99 yards on eight plays for the score. Fields hit Justin Bell on a 2-yard shovel pass for the touchdown. Jimmy Embrescia added the extra point for a 14-0 Pioneer lead with four minutes left in the first quarter.
The drive was highlighted by three straight completions from Fields to Maguire Morris that accounted for 66 yards. Morris finished the day with 10 catches for 167 yards.
Otterbein answered with a scoring drive of its own to cut the lead in half. The Cardinals covered 72 yards in six plays with Hall running it in from 2-yards out with 1:03 left in the opening period.
Neither team found the end zone in the second quarter and the score remained 14-7 at halftime.
The teams traded touchdowns in the third quarter. Fields connected with Ryan Van Meter on a 33-yard scoring strike, while Hall hit Reed Tucker for a 9-yard touchdown sending the game to the fourth quarter with Marietta leading 21-14.
The fourth quarter was all Navy Blue as Marietta scored 22 straight points before allowing Otterbein a touchdown in the final seconds of the game.
Embrescia started the Pioneer onslaught with a 22-yard field goal at the 11:49 mark.
The Cardinals suffered three straight turnovers all of which resulted in Marietta touchdowns. Jake Tracewell intercepted a Hall pass giving the Pioneers the ball at its own 37-yard line. Fields connected with Van Meter for 33 yards, followed by a short run by Tanner Clark and a 27-yard touchdown pass from Fields to Bell. Embrescia added the point after for a 31-14 MC lead.
Bell finished with three catches for 36 yards and three touchdowns. Van Meter had six receptions for 108 yards and one touchdown. Clark went over the 100-yard rushing mark for the eighth time this season finishing with 105 yards and one touchdown on 23 carries.
Otterbein fumbled the ball away on its own 40-yard line on the next possession and Marietta needed just five plays to reach the end zone. Clark scored on a 5-yard run for his only points of the afternoon.
On the ensuing kickoff, Vic Giovengo knocked the ball out of the hands of Otterbein's JT Thomas and Brady Wallace recovered the fumble for the Pioneers. Kyle McSweeney, on in relief of Fields, hooked up with Bell on a 7-yard scoring strike pushing the Pioneer lead to 43-14.
The Cardinals' backup quarterback Steven Irwin completed 4-of-6 passes, including a 30-yard touchdown to Casey Cook, as Otterbein scored with 23 seconds left on the clock.
Marietta's defense limited the Cardinals to just 38 yards rushing. Hall completed 22-of-34 passes for 289 yards and one touchdown. He was picked off twice. Dom Ross was Otterbein's leading receiver with five catches for 105 yards.
Sophomore linebacker Caleb Boy led the Marietta defense with 11 tackles. Niall Lewison recorded 15 tackles for the Cardinals.
Marietta finishes the season next Saturday (Nov. 10) with a 1:30 p.m. kickoff at #1 ranked Mount Union.
"We're excited about the opportunity to go to Mount Union with our best team," Waddle said. "Obviously, the challenge of Mount Union is big, but our guys understand that and we're excited to be in that game and have a chance."
Fields' record-setting day leads Marietta to a 43-21 win at Otterbein
/seasons/2018/boxscores/20181103_ulj9.xml
2018
Marietta
43
Otterbein
21
| Final | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | T |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Marietta (7-2) | 14 | 0 | 7 | 22 | 43 |
| Otterbein (1-8) | 7 | 0 | 7 | 7 | 21 |
Nov 03, 2018