The 2012 season came to an end for the Marietta College football team Saturday as the Pioneers dropped a 38-14 decision to the Fighting Muskies of Muskingum at Don Drumm Stadium.
It was the final collegiate game for 16 Pioneer seniors, who saw their record drop to 0-10 after the loss Saturday.
"It was a puddle of adversity we had to go through all year," said MC head coach Jeff Filkovski. "The guys competed all year, and I'm proud of them for that."
After Muskingum got a field goal on its opening drive, the Muskies looked to tack on more on their second possession. Cornerback Robert Brown prevented that from happening with an interception of quarterback C.J. Snider to set the Pios up at the Muskingum 22-yard line.
Marietta got on the board thanks to a one yard touchdown run by quarterback Thomas Hinkle. It was the first rushing touchdown of the season for Marietta. Conor Durina hit the extra point to put the Pios up 7-3.
Muskingum would take the lead back on rushing touchdowns of four and five yards by Snider to go up 17-7 at halftime.
Fact Box
Muskingum 38, Marietta 14
Muskingum (3-7, 3-6) 3 14 14 7 - 38
Marietta (0-10, 0-9) 7 0 0 7 - 14
First quarter:
MU- Greg Fox 29 yard field goal, 9:29
MC- Hinkle 1 run, Durina kick, 5:25
Second quarter:
MU- Snider 4 run, Fox kick, 7:38
MU- Snider 5 run, Fox kick, 0:59
Third quarter:
MU- Snider 3 run, Fox kick, 7:58
MU- Logan Ladd 5 blocked punt return, Fox kick, 3:42
Fourth quarter:
MU- Donnie Pickens 12 run, Fox kick, 3:30
MC- Munfield 18 pass from Ervin, Durina kick, 0:42
Team stats: Rushing: Muskingum: 45-236; Marietta: 29-82; Passing: Muskingum: 12-21-136-1; Marietta: 9-26-100-2; Total yards: Muskingum: 372; Marietta: 182; First downs: Muskingum: 21; Marietta: 15; Penalties/yds: Muskingum: 8/92; Marietta: 5-41; Fumbles/lost: Muskingum: 1/1;
Marietta: 1/1; Punts/avg: Muskingum: 5/35.2; Marietta: 7/34.9
Individual stats: Rushing: Shane Dotson 20-107; Snider 14-74, 3tds; Alex Meredith 5-33; Donnie Pickens 5-23, 1td; Marietta: Bell 6-42; Julius Nero 9-23; Dones 6-17; Hinkle 6-12, 1td; Passing: Muskingum: Snider 9-15-93-1; Alex Meredith 3-5-43-0; Lunden Butler 0-1-0-0; Marietta: Hinkle 3-13-39-2; Lucas Havens 4-11-32-0; Ervin 2-2-29-0, 1td; Receiving: Muskingum: J.J. Washington 4-53; Marvin Morris 3-40; Lunden Butler 3-20; Wes Rataiczak 2-23; Marietta: Roberts 4-40; Munfield 3-34, 1td; Kobilarcsik 1-18; Alex Gesicki 1-8
Snider, who was named Muskingum's Shrine Player of the Game, scored on a three year run in the third quarter to extend the lead to 24-7. Overall, Snider ran for 74 yards on 14 carries and three scores, while also throwing for 93 yards.
After adding two more touchdowns to put the game out of reach at 38-7, Marietta was finally able to respond.
On its final possession, senior Willy Ervin came off the bench to play quarterback, and connected on two pass attempts, his second being an 18 yard scoring strike to fellow senior Sean Munfield. Durina's extra point made it 38-14.
It was the first game action of the year for Ervin, who entered the game to the sound of a fired up crowd.
"Willy's been with us for four years," Filkovski said. "He's been in the stables, if you would, for four years. He's had times where he thought about maybe packing it up. We visited many times. It was good to see him play and get out there and function. He threw one to Munfield, who, certainly I hate to see guys like that leave. Sean Munfield is a heck of a football player for us."
Muskingum ran two running plays to run the clock down and end the game on its next possession.
Linebacker Jake Hammer recorded 12 tackles in the game, running his season total to an OAC-leading 115. Hammer was named Marietta's Shrine Player of the Game.
Senior Quincy Bell led the Pioneers in rushing with 42 yards on six attempts, while fellow senior Tevin Dones contributed 17 yards on six carries.
Junior Tannon Roberts had four catches for 40 yards in the game, while Munfield had three catches for 34 yards and a score and senior Jake Kobilarcsik had one catch for 18 yards.
Defensively, seniors Kadeem Corbin and Gaston Hayes each had 10 tackles and combined for a sack. Seniors John Korth and David Olach each had three stops, while seniors Louis DiPaolo and Joe Terrell each had one tackle.
Filkovski was proud of the senior group.
"They could've hung it up, or pulled out the white flag or not practice hard, but none of that happened," Filkovski said. "The character of this football team is in great shape, by the leadership of those seniors."
