Written by: Zachary Worstell (zdw001@marietta.edu)
The Pioneers went bowling! The Marietta College football team finished 8-3 and were able to make an appearance at Tom Benson Hall of Fame Stadium in Canton, Ohio. Here, the Pios participated in the first ever Extra Points Bowl against Westminster College (PA). While Marietta was not able to win, the season was historic for the team, and its important to look back at what they achieved this year.
The season started off on the road with their non-conference game against St. John Fisher University in New York. The season prior, Marietta came away with a 31-7 win with home field advantage. On the road however, the Pios set the trend for the season, pulling off a 55-0 victory against the Cardinals. The efficiency of both the offense and the defense established in this game would be seen throughout the full entire season.
After a week 2 bye, Marietta set their sights on the OAC championship. To start their journey, they traveled to Westerville for a battle against Otterbein University. However, the battle was short lived as Marietta pulled away with a quick lead and beat Otterbein 51-14.
After the 2-0 start, Marietta traveled back home to Don Drumm stadium for their next two OAC matchups. In the first game, Marietta came away with a 54-10 win over Captial University. In the second, the Pioneers established the run game early on and beat Ohio Nothern University 45-10.
Heading back on the road, Marietta faced off against Heidelberg University. In this game the Pios offense struggled in the second half, however, they were still able to pull off a 35-7 victory over the Student Princes. Marietta’s next game came against their rival Muskingum University under the lights. At first, the game seemed to be a stalemate with no points scored in the first quarter. In the second quarter, Marietta was able to find their footing and ran away with a 38-6 win.
The 6-0 Pios then went home for Homecoming Weekend where they hosted Baldwin Wallace University. In front of a crowd of more than 4000, the Pioneers beat the Yellowjackets 47-7. They followed up this win by not giving up a single touchdown at home against Wilmington College. The result was a 52-6 victory for the Pioneers. After this victory and 8-0 start, the Pioneers were recognized by making an appearance in the AFCA D3 Coaches Poll being ranked #22 in the nation.
However, their next game was a road trip to #3 Mount Union. While the Pios have historically struggled against the Purple Raiders, they were determined to win. The teams went back and forth trading touchdowns in the first half. They came into the second half at a 14-14 tie. The Pioneers defense silenced the Raiders in the third, forcing two punts and blocking one of them. Quarterback Connor Viertstra was able to find wideout Dawson Snyder for a touchdown putting them up 21-14. However, the Purple Raiders tied the game in the 4th and after some unfortunate sacks that stopped the Pioneer offense, Mount Union scored again with 30 seconds left in the game. While the loss was disappointing, this was Marietta’s closest game with Mount Union in recorded history and still put them in playoff eligibility, all they needed was a win against John Carroll University.
For the final game of the regular season, Marietta visited John Carroll, whom last year they lost to by only a field goal. However, Marietta was not able to turn their momentum around, finding themselves behind in the game early. John Carroll started off with a 14-0 lead in the first, and the Pios were not able to catch up and lost 49-35. Both schools finished with an 8-2 overall record, however, John Carroll had an 8-1 OAC record and claimed a spot in the playoff bracket playing Mount St. Joseph in the first round.
On the other hand, Marietta was invited to the inaugural Opendorse Bowl Series facing the 7-3 Westminster College Titans. D3 bowl games have been expanding over the past few years, giving opportunities to more teams to prove themselves. In Canton, the Titan’s defense took over, intercepting Vierstra three times as well as recovering two fumbles. So, while Marietta gained 380 yards of offense, Westminster only needed 170 to come up with a 27-13 win over the Pioneers.
While the Pioneers were not able to win their first bowl game, the players put up historic numbers, many of them breaking Marietta College Records. Vierstra set the record for career passing yards at 8472 and set the record for passing touchdowns in a season at 24. Snyder set the record for every single season and career receiving record, including receptions, yards, and touchdowns.
