Marietta College’s Vante’ Hodges (21) carries the ball as Mount Union’s Jason Grimes (4) defends during Saturday’s game in Alliance, Ohio. (Photo by Jordan Holland)

ALLIANCE, Ohio — The Marietta College Pioneers did not arrive at Kehres Stadium Saturday looking to earn respect — though they definitely accomplished that.

Marietta showed up at Mount Union with the intention of taking down the third-ranked Purple Raiders, but ultimately fell just short of that goal. Mount Union scored two touchdowns in the final five minutes to escape with a 28-21 victory.

“Marietta is so good,” said Mount Union head coach Geoff Dart. “They’re for sure a playoff team. Now, with 40 teams in the playoffs, if they can take care of business next week against John Carroll, they should get in. They deserve to get in.”

The 22nd-ranked Pioneers (8-1) took a 21-14 lead with 1:22 to go in the third quarter when Connor Vierstra threw a 19-yard touchdown pass to Dawson Snyder.

Marietta’s defense, which hadn’t allowed more than 14 points in any game all season, was stingy for most of the game. However, Mount Union (9-0) came up clutch on its final two drives.

Marietta College’s Connor Vierstra (7) celebrates after scoring a touchdown during Saturday’s game against Mount Union. (Photo by Jordan Holland)

Tyler Echeverry, who carried 12 times for 116 yards, broke loose for a 51-yard touchdown run to tie the game with 4:54 left in the fourth.

Marietta got the ball back and drove to midfield when Snyder, who caught 12 passes for 103 yards, drew a pass interference and hauled in a 10-yard catch. The Purple Raiders, though, put a stop to the drive thanks in part to Kaleb Brown’s sack of Vierstra, one of four sacks on the afternoon for Mount Union.

The Pioneers had to punt, and Mount got the ball at its own 14-yard line with 1:49 left.

Backup quarterback TJ Deshields, who played the entire second half after starter Noah Beaudrie was injured on the final play before halftime, completed a 20-yard pass to Tyrell Sanders to get things moving. That would be the theme throughout the game winning drive as Sanders, who finished with eight grabs for 126 yards, had two more catches of 16 and 11 yards to set up his 27-yard TD reception with 32 ticks on the clock.

Deshields, a graduate student, finished 9 for 17 for 117 yards. He bounced back after four of his first five pass attempts were incomplete.

Marietta College’s Dawson Snyder catches a touchdown pass over Mount Union’s Tony Cook (20) during Saturday’s game in Alliance, Ohio. (Photo by Jordan Holland)

“We have 100% trust and faith in TJ,” Dart said.

“Early on, maybe we weren’t putting him in the best places in terms of play-calling. That’s on me. We told him, ‘Hey man. You can effectively pass the ball here.’ He kept the one and put his shoulder down and got some yards. I’m really proud of everybody, especially TJ.”

Marietta had three timeouts to work with on its final drive, but needed to move quickly. A 23-yard pass from Vierstra to Jay Melchiori, who caught six balls for 90 yards, got MC to midfield with 20 seconds left. After two straight deep incompletions, the Pioneers had time for one more play. Vierstra completed a short pass to Snyder to begin a series of laterals. Eventually, Vierstra got the ball back and tried to throw it across the field, but Brown stepped in front of it to end the game.

It was the second turnover of the game for the Pioneers, who also lost a fumble at the goal line earlier in the contest.

“The defense just, over and over again, backs against the wall,” Dart said. “They came up with a couple turnovers down in the red area. Then they got some stops. Great team win.”

Marietta College’s Quinn Brown (42) celebrates after scoring a touchdown during Saturday’s game against Mount Union. (Photo by Jordan Holland)

The Purple Raiders finished with 396 total yards of offense. They were able to execute the kind of chunk plays Marietta has been so good at preventing throughout the season.

“We didn’t operate too well in the first half because of their defense, but we just kept fighting,” Dart said. “We created some explosive plays — that’s kind of what we’ve been doing all year. Happy to come away with a win.”

Marietta head coach Andy Waddle thought his team missed some chances.

“People always ask, ‘What’s the key to the game?'” Waddle said. “I felt like if we didn’t turn the ball over, if we played good special teams and if we didn’t give up any big plays, we’d have a chance to win the game. Unfortunately, we had a couple big plays that came back and hurt us.”

Echeverry’s 16-yard touchdown run in the first quarter got the scoring started and put Mount up 7-0.

Marietta College’s David Busch blocks Mount Union’s Brandon Bowden (41) during Saturday’s game in Alliance, Ohio. (Photo by Jordan Holland)

Marietta answered as Vierstra, who finished 26 for 38 for 266 yards, found Quinn Brown in the end zone for a 12-yard scoring strike to tie it up.

Vierstra used his legs to find the end zone in the second quarter, scoring from a yard out on fourth and goal to put Marietta on top 14-7.

Beaudrie, who was 10 for 13 for 127 yards in the first half, threw a 10-yard touchdown pass to Matt Anderson to tie it at 14-all with 3:28 left before halftime.

The Purple Raiders got the ball back with 47 seconds left and tried to engineer a drive, but Beaudrie got hurt on a 5-yard scramble as the clock expired.

Mount Union persevered, and the win clinched their eighth straight Ohio Athletic Conference championship.

Mount Union quarterback Noah Beaudrie (8) throws a pass as Marietta College’s Chance Knight (55) defends during Saturday’s game in Alliance, Ohio. (Photo by Jordan Holland)

“We blocked and tackled better in the second half and that’s what I challenged them to do,” said Dart, who pointed out the atmosphere and the magnitude of the game.

“End of the year, both teams 8-0 — this is Mount Union. This is the kind of support we get. Marietta obviously traveled well. What a great game.”

Waddle agreed.

“Marietta showed up,” he said. “Marietta showed up, so thanks to all our alum, our fans, parents and student body who came out and supported the guys today. They made this our stadium as much as it was Mount Union’s stadium. We had a great crowd.”

As Waddle pointed out, “It’s not getting easier next week.”

Marietta is back on the road next Saturday at John Carroll for a 2 p.m. kickoff. It will be John Carroll’s final regular season game as a member of the OAC. The Pioneers have never defeated the Blue Streaks, but a win next week will give them a great shot at an at-large postseason berth.

“We got here because we loved each other,” Waddle said. “We got here because we worked and we cared about each other. That’s still going to be the hallmark of who this team is. Today’s outcome doesn’t affect that. We have to be able to bounce back and go back to work next week.”

Contact Jordan Holland at jholland@newsandsentinel.com.