Big plays prove costly as Marietta posts 27-10 victory over Football

By Tim Glon

MARIETTA — Marietta turned four big plays into 27 points and a 27-10 Ohio Athletic Conference football victory over Ohio Northern on Saturday at Don Drumm Stadium.

The Polar Bears fall to 1-7 overall and are 1-6 in the OAC, while the Pioneers improve to 4-4, 3-4.

Marietta got its first big play midway through the first period when Bryce Agnew broke free for an 89-yard touchdown run and it was 7-0 with 7:20 gone in the game.

Senior Dom DiFalco (Murrysville, Pa./Franklin Regional) drilled a 44-yard field goal with 13:39 left in the half to get Northern within 7-3.

MC threw a 42-yard Hail Mary touchdown pass on the final play of the first half to lead 14-3 at intermission.

ONU marched 63 yards in nine plays and got within 14-10 when freshman Adan Figueroa (Orange City, Fla./University) threw a 15-yard TD pass to junior L.J. Payton (Wheelersburg) with 4:02 left in the third quarter.

But the Pioneers returned the ensuing kickoff 71 yards to the ONU 27-yard line and scored four plays later to go up 21-10.

MC iced the game with a 36-yard interception return to the ONU 37, which set up a 3-yard touchdown run to make it 28-10 with 7:40 left in the game.

Figueroa finished the day 16-of-32 passing for 148 yards and a score, while senior All-American Brock Martin (Attica/Seneca East) ran 11 times for 46 yards.

Sophomore Dalton Tjong (Cumming, Ga./West Forsyth) entered the day as the OAC's leading tackler and finished the day with a team-best nine stops.

The Ohio Northern defense was solid all day, limiting the Pioneers to just 298 yards of total offense and just 10 first downs. ONU had 269 yards of offense and 21 first downs on the afternoon.

Agnew carried 20 times for 164 yards to lead Marietta.

The Polar Bears will play their final road game of the season next Saturday at Otterbein before wrapping up their season at home against Wilmington on Nov. 12 at Dial-Roberson Stadium.