Mount Union mauls Marietta, 52-0

By JEFFREY ZUPANIC

The Review

MARIETTA ? A stiff wind controlled the start of the game, but Mount Union just blew away Marietta with a strong second quarter.

The Purple Raiders (3-0, 2-0 Ohio Athletic Conference) scored 17 second-quarter points in a span of three minutes en route to a dominating 52-0 win against winless Marietta (0-3, 0-2) at Don Drumm Stadium on Saturday night.

?Coming off a explosive (57-0) win last week I wanted to see how they would react to going on the road and playing at night,? said Mount Union head coach Larry Kehres. ?They responded well.?

Mount Union managed the conditions on the ground in the first quarter by methodically using as much of the clock as possible while running the ball 15 times on its 18 offensive plays. Senior running back T.J. Lattimore had nine of the carries in the period for 29 yards, including a 5-yard touchdown run with 5:20 on the clock.

?The wind really picked up from the time we finished warmups and started the game. I didn?t think it would get that windy,? Kehres said. ?We didn?t want to make any mistakes (in the quarter).?

Sophomore quarterback Kevin Burke attempted just three first-quarter passes but it was open season on the Pioneers? secondary in the second quarter. Burke had touchdowns of 40 and 23 yards to Jasper Collins and Chris Denton, respectively, while completing four of his five attempts.

At the half, he was 5-of-8 for 116 yards as Mount Union held a 211-71 total yardage advantage. Marietta had minus-1 yard rushing, thanks to seven sacks before halftime.

Burke?s two touchdown passes were set up by turnovers, both of which involved Nick Driskill. The senior All-American safety hauled in an incredible diving interception to set up Collins? score. On the ensuing possession, Driskill stripped Marietta quarterback Tom Fulton while sacking him. Teammate Frank Orteca recovered the ball on the 23.

?He makes quite a difference,? said Kehres of Driskill. ?He also saved Chris (Denton) by hustling down the field and recovering a fumbled punt.?

Mount Union?s first touchdown was also set up by a turnover when senior linebacker Charles Dieuseul picked off Fulton at the Mount Union 47 before returning the ball to the Pioneers? 35.

The Purple Raiders opened the second half with arguably their most efficient drive of the game ? a 6-play, 55-yard drive ? that ended with a fancy counter run from 3 yards from Lattimore for his second TD of the game and a 31-0 lead with 9:58 left in the third.

Lattimore finished with 18 carries for 100 yards while Blair Skilliter had 50 yards on four carries as Mount Union rolled up more than 200 yards on the ground.

Burke?s third TD of the game was a 31-yarder to Shannon Stewart on 4th-and-25 that made it 38-0 in the third.

?He (Burke) made the right read on that play against the coverage,? said Kehres.

Sophomore Roman Namdar took over the quarterback duties in the fourth and scored the first rushing touchdown of his career with a 4-yard run to make it 45-0 with 12:05 on the clock. Namdar got his second career touchdown pass on a 45-yard flip and run by Jack Nicholls with 7:10 left in the game.

?Roman throws a nice tight ball and that?s hard to do against the wind like tonight,? said Kehres.

The shutout was second of the season and Mount Union has outscored the opposition 154-7 through three games and the defense finished with nine sacks, which were the most in a single game since getting 10 against Marietta last season.

?To hold Marietta to 90 yards (offense for the game) is an outstanding performance,? said Kehres.

The Purple Raiders host Ohio Northern (1-2) at 1:30 p.m. on Saturday.

MOUNT UNION 52, MARIETTA 0

Mount Union 7 17 14 14 ? 52

Marietta 0 0 0 0 ?0

SCORING

MTU ? Lattimore, 5 run, 5:20 1st (Almeida kick).

MTU ? Almeida, 22 field goal, 10:39 2nd.

MTU ? Collins, 40 pass from Burke, 9:10 2nd (Almeida kick).

MTU ? Denton, 23 pass from Burke, 7:38 2nd (Almeida kick).

MTU ? Lattimore, 3 run, 9:58 3rd (Almeida kick).

MTU ? Stewart, 31 pass from Burke, 5:03 3rd (Almeida kick).

MTU ? Namdar, 4 run, 12:05 4th (Almeida kick).

MTU ? J. Nicholls, 45 pass from Namdar, 7:10 4th (Almeida kick).

Source: http://www.the-review.com/mount%20union%20sports/2012/09/22/mount-union-mauls-marietta-52-0

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