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John Carroll University Athletics

home of the Blue Streaks
FB Senior Day
Jess Maddux
John Carroll Football Seniors honored on Senior Night
10
Marietta MAR 1-1 , 1-1
34
Winner John Carroll JCU 2-1 , 2-1
Marietta MAR
1-1 , 1-1
10
Final
34
John Carroll JCU
2-1 , 2-1
Winner
Score By Quarters
Team 1st 2nd 3rd 4th F
MAR Marietta 3 0 0 7 10
JCU John Carroll 13 7 0 14 34

Game Recap: Football | | Luke Potosky, Staff Writer

JCU Earns Wire-to-Wire 34-10 Victory Over Marietta

UNIVERSITY HEIGHTS, Ohio -- Two things gave John Carroll Football motivation heading into their battle against Marietta this Friday night.

Number one, the Blue and Gold wanted to bounce back from a 52-27 loss to arch-rival Mount Union.

Number two, JCU wanted a more convincing result than last year's 23-21 nailbiter victory over Marietta.

John Carroll accomplished both of those feats on March 26 at Don Shula Stadium as they defeated the Marietta Pioneers 34-10 to improve to 2-1 in Ohio Athletic Conference regular-season play.

For the second straight home game, a game-changing moment occurred on the opening play.

Robert Rippole kicked the game off, and on the Marietta return, Michael Palmer forced a fumble which was recovered by Niko Rosso. 

Getting their first possession sooner than expected, JCU didn't miss a beat. Five plays into the drive, Jake Floriea found a fading Kenny Cross in the corner of the endzone to put the Blue and Gold up 7-0.

Soon after, Marietta's first possession on offense saw them drive down the field into the JCU red zone. However, the Blue and Gold defense stood tall, keyed by a Nate Leopold third-down pass breakup. The Pioneers still gained points thanks to a 34-yard field goal that made it 7-3.

Next, John Carroll's offense used a methodical drive to march down the field for more points. On the eleventh play of the drive, Jake Floriea found a toe-tapping Keyshawn Colmon in the corner of the endzone for a 14-yard score. A blocked PAT made it 13-3 Blue Streaks after one quarter.

After holding Marietta to a three and out, JCU's offense found some more success in the passing game. A handful of plays into the drive, Floriea connected with Devin Limerick in the back of the endzone for a 17-yard touchdown. The score put the Blue Streaks on top 20-3 with 8:33 left in the first half.

Another three and out forced by the Men of Mayhem meant that John Carroll had a chance to score four touchdowns in their first four drives. That chance, however, wouldn't last for very long.

On the first play of the Blue Streaks' next drive, Floriea's pass was intercepted by Tay Pryor. This gave the Pioneers some solid field position and stalled JCU's momentum.

Despite the interception, however, the Blue and Gold defense stood tall by forcing a Marietta turnover on downs.

The two teams traded punts for the remainder of the first half, one of which included an Andy Han gem that pinned the Pioneers at their own 2-yard line. John Carroll had a chance to tally on more points at the end of the half, but a 27-yard field goal try was no good.

JCU went into halftime in an excellent position by being up 20-3 and got set to receive the ball for the second half.

John Carroll's opening drive saw them waltz down the field again, but a sack on fourth down forced them to turn the ball over on downs.

Marietta took over, but their drive stalled thanks to a tackle for loss by Luke Brown and other members of the stingy Blue Streak defense.

A JCU three and out saw Marietta drive down the field shortly after. They tried a 36-yard field goal, but it was no good.

After three quarters, the score remained what it was at halftime; 20-3, Blue Streaks.

On the eleventh play of John Carroll's next drive, shifty running back Demerius Goodwin cut his way to paydirt, scoring from 27 yards out to put JCU up 27-3 with 12:47 left in the game.

Aided by a couple of John Carroll penalties on the next drive, Marietta drove down the field and found the endzone as Ethan Brown connected with Dre Baldwin to cut the John Carroll lead to 27-10.

Seeing the lead cut to three scores, the John Carroll offense led by offensive coordinator Drew Nystrom opted for conservative play the remainder of the game.

A drive that started with 10:52 left in the game was abruptly ended with 3:57 left after a JCU fumble gave the ball to the Pioneers.

But by then, it was too late for Marietta to engineer a comeback.

The two teams traded turnover on downs, and then with 1:12 left in the ballgame, Nick Urbanowicz forced a fumble that was picked up by Alec Wallace who sprinted to the endzone for a scoop and score. Andy Han's PAT made it 34-10, essentially sealing the victory for the Blue and Gold.

The clock soon hit triple-zeroes, and JCU ended up with a convincing 34-10 win over Marietta who (like JCU) also defeated Baldwin Wallace by double digits this season.

Offensively, JCU was spurred by the efficient passing of Jake Floriea (17-19, 142 yds., 3 TDs), two 100-yard rushers in Matthew Buser (109 yards), and Demerius Goodwin (100 yards, 1 TD), and a handful of Blue Streak receivers.

Defensively, JCU was led by Harrison Richardson who finished with eight tackles (two for loss) and Alec Wallace who scored the lone defensive touchdown of the game. Eight Men of Carroll finished with at least four tackles.

Up next, John Carroll will travel to New Concord on Friday, April 2 at 7 pm to take on Muskingum in hopes of finishing regular season play 3-1.
 
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