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Pioneers stung by Yellow Jackets, 31-7, on homecoming

By From staff reports 3 min read

MARIETTA -- Baldwin Wallace made life hard on Marietta College's offense Saturday at Don Drumm Stadium as the Yellow Jackets left town with a 31-7 victory to spoil the Pioneers' homecoming.

BW, which remained unbeaten at 6-0 overall and 4-0 in the Ohio Athletic Conference, had a shutout going until the 7:12 mark in the fourth quarter, when Marietta running back Zion Jackson-Wilborn found the end zone from 2-yards out. By then, the Yellow Jackets had already built a 31-0 lead behind the right arm of Charlie Bubonics.

Baldwin Wallace's quarterback threw four touchdown passes and finished 23 for 35 for 196 yards. George Linberger (14 carries, 80 yards) and Boston Mulinix (19 carries, 70 yards) were effective on the ground to give the Jackets' offense balance.

Marietta's defense held its own in the first half, forcing punts on Baldwin Wallace's first three possessions of the game. Eventually, though, BW broke through.

At the 14:07 mark in the second quarter, Bubonics connected with Xavier Balson on a 21-yard touchdown pass to put up the game's first points.

Later in the second, Marietta got into field goal range, but James Cornwell's 40-yard attempt was wide right.

Just before halftime, the MC defense appeared to get a big stop when Leo Grandizio intercepted Bubonics in the end zone, but it was negated by an unnecessary roughness penalty. Baldwin Wallace settled for a 22-yard field goal by Owen Warrick to make it 10-0 at halftime.

The Yellow Jackets' offense found some rhythm out of the break, scoring touchdowns on three straight drives to put the game out of reach. Connor Awad and Seandelle Gardner both caught third-quarter touchdown passes from Bubonics. In the fourth, Balson, who led BW with 82 yards on seven catches, caught his second TD.

Marietta QB Joe Tenta finished 20 for 48 for 231 yards. He was intercepted once by Nolan Hartsel. Dalton Miller led all receivers with 109 yards on seven receptions. Ethan Crock and Harper Scott both had a sack for the Marietta defense, while Taison Starr tallied a game-high 17 tackles.

At Don Drumm Stadium

Baldwin Wallace 31, Marietta College 7

B (6-0, 4-0) 0 10 14 7 -- 31

M (3-3, 2-3) 0 0 0 7 -- 7

B: Xavier Balson 21 pass from Charlie Bubonics, Owen Warrick kick, 14:07 2nd

B: Warrick 22 field goal, :00 2nd

B: Connor Awad 1 pass from Bubonics, Warrick kick, 9:00 3rd

B: Seandelle Gardner 4 pass from Bubonics, Warrick kick, 4:45 3rd

B: Balson 12 pass from Bubonics, Warrick kick, 13:44 4th

M: Zion Jackson-Wilborn 2 run, Nathaniel Demuth kick, 7:12 4th

Team stats

Baldwin Wallace: First downs: 29; Rushes-yards: 51-200; Passing yards: 196; Total yards: 396; Passing: 23-35-0; Fumbles-lost: 0-0; Penalties-yards: 6-44; Punts-average: 5-46

Marietta: First downs: 16; Rushes-yards: 16-27; Passing yards: 231; Total yards: 258; Passing: 20-48-1; Fumbles-lost: 1-1; Penalties-yards: 10-69; Punts-average: 6-35.7

Individual stats

Baldwin Wallace: Rushing: George Linberger 14-80; Boston Mulinix 19-70; Zach Barnhart 5-24; Terrain White 5-17; Charlie Bubonics 7-10; TEAM 1-(-1); Passing: Bubonics 23-35-0, 196 yards, 4 TDs; Receiving: Xavier Balson 7-82, 2 TDs; Seandelle Gardner 5-68, TD; Colin Quinlan 1-11; Bronson Speedy 3-11; Connor Awad 3-10, TD; Lindberger 2-8; Jimmy Timonere 1-5; Tristan Toy 1-1

Marietta: Rushing: Benny Lewis 7-24; Zion Jackson-Wilborn 5-11, TD; Joe Tenta 4-(-8); Passing: Tenta 20-48-1, 231 yards; Receiving: Dalton Miller 7-109; Antwon Johnson 4-41; Chrys Taylor 2-31; Louis Goodnow 2-23; Nas Foster 2-12; Mike Banks 1-11; Lewis 1-2; Isaiah Mitchell 1-2

Next game: Marietta at Muskingum, 1:30 p.m. Saturday

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