MARIETTA, Ohio — Capital University had two tries at a game-winning two-point conversion Saturday (Sept. 8) afternoon but came up short on both attempts as Marietta College escaped with a 51-50 victory over the Crusaders. The Pioneers improve to 2-0 overall and 1-0 in the Ohio Athletic Conference. Capital falls to 0-2 overall and 0-1 in the OAC.
"I'm excited that we got the win. But it was certainly not the way we felt that we would play, especially on defense," Marietta head coach Andy Waddle said. "It's a credit to Capital for making some great plays. We said all week that Thomas Wibbeler is one of the best quarterbacks in the country and he played like that today."
Wibbeler dove in from the one with 26 seconds left in the game to get Capital within one, 51-50. Third-year Capital head coach Chad Rogosheske decided to go for two and the win rather than kick the extra point and play overtime.
Wibbeler's pass attempt on the two-point conversion fell incomplete but Marietta was whistled for pass interference giving the Crusaders a second chance. This time from the 1-yard line.
Capital's leading rusher in the game, Wibbeler tried to run it in this time. Pioneer senior linebacker Garrett Davis, along with junior defensive back James Knox, stuffed Wibbeler short of the goal line to maintain MC's one-point lead.
"Garrett and James made a heck of a play," Waddle said. "Garrett is a grinder and a tough kid. He's everything that you want in an athlete from his preparation to his effort on every play."
Capital was forced to try an onside kick and Andrew Barker fielded the squib kick for the Pioneers allowing Marietta to run out the clock in the victory formation.
The teams combined for just under 1,200 yards of total offense in the game. It quickly turned into a battle between Wibbeler's arm and the legs of Tanner Clark.
Wibbeler completed 33-of-53 passes for 511 yards and 5 touchdowns. He rushed for 85 yards and 1 TD on 10 carries. Clark rushed for 311 yards and 5 touchdowns on 34 carries. Clark also caught 1 pass for 47 yards and a touchdown. Clark's 6 touchdowns tie the Marietta College single game record with Dallas Garber and Dante Brown.
"300 yards rushing is a pretty special day. Going in to the season, I told everybody that we would still be able to run the ball," Waddle said. "We lost an All-American running back in Roger Walker, but I knew we had Tanner coming back and credit Coach Estep and his game plan. But it's also a credit to our offensive line and our quarterback getting us into the right play call."
Three of Clark's scores came on big plays. Clark caught a 47-yard TD pass from Darrien Fields and then broke a 72-yard touchdown run in the first quarter. He added a 62-yard scoring run in the second quarter before adding short touchdown runs of 1, 5 and 4 yards.
Marietta trailed for most of the afternoon. Clark's final touchdown of the day capped a 10-play, 70-yard drive and gave the Pioneers their first lead of the day with 6:17 left in the game. Fields connected with tight end Bobby Cashaw on the two-point conversion giving MC a seven-point lead, 51-44.
The Crusaders answered with a 13-play drive that covered 81 yards and ended with Wibbeler's 1-yard run and set the stage for Davis and Knox to provide the defensive play of the game on Capital's two-point conversion attempt.
Davis led the Pioneer defense with 14 tackles. Caleb Boy added eight stops, while Christian Dowell, Javi Zaragoza and Knox each had seven tackles.
Fields completed 14-of-22 passes for 214 yards and 2 touchdowns. He was picked off once. Maguire Morris had 7 catches for 46 yards, while Barker finished with 4 receptions for 102 yards and a touchdown.
David Barnett was Wibbeler's favorite target catching 12 passes for 225 yards and a touchdown. Dar Stanford had 7 catches for 153 yards and 3 touchdowns for the Crusaders.
It's rivalry week for the Pioneers as Marietta travels to New Concord on Saturday (Sept. 15) for a 1:30 p.m. battle at Muskingum University.
"We've struggled when we have gone to Muskingum so hopefully we put that behind us," Waddle said. "Muskie is always going to be a physical smash mouth game and our guys will have to show up and play. If we are going to win that game we need to execute at a high level and correct some of the mistakes we had on defense this week."
Marietta wins 51-50 shootout against Capital
/seasons/2018/boxscores/20180908_jydq.xml
2018
Capital
50
Marietta
51
| Final | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | T |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Capital (0-2) | 17 | 20 | 0 | 13 | 50 |
| Marietta (2-0) | 14 | 14 | 7 | 16 | 51 |
Sep 08, 2018