Marietta football travels to Wilmington in week three for OAC opener
Marietta (1-0, 0-0 OAC) at Wilmington (0-1, 0-1 OAC) • 6 p.m. • Saturday, Sept. 20 • Williams Stadium

Sept. 17, 2008
MARIETTA, Ohio — The 2008 Marietta College football season continues Saturday (Sept. 20), when the Pioneers travel across the state of Ohio to take on host Wilmington College. Kickoff with the Quakers is slated for 6 p.m. at Williams Stadium. Saturday will be the first night game at Wilmington since 1974, as the Quakers recently installed a new lighting system to go along with a new artificial playing surface at Williams Stadium. [Complete Game Notes (.pdf)]

Here is a look at both teams:

Wilmington College: Led by fourth-year head coach Barry Wulf, the 2008 Wilmington College football team ranks ninth in the OAC in scoring, averaging 7.0 points. The Quakers rank ninth in total offense (252.0). They are ninth in passing (120.0) and seventh in rushing (132.0). Wilmington is the second-least penalized team in the OAC, giving up an average of 20.0 penalty yards. The Quakers have converted 1-of-4 red-zone chances and 6-of-17 third down opportunities this season.

Junior Billy Blackburn has completed 8-of-31 passes and thrown for 118 yards with one touchdown and zero interceptions. Sophomore Marc Otte leads the rushing attack with 22 carries for 85 yards. Blackburn has added five rushes for 32 yards. Junior Jeremy Stuckey is Wilmington's top wide receiver, pulling in five receptions for 65 yards and one score.

The Quakers' defense is allowing 21.0 points per game, which ranks eighth in the league. Wilmington has surrendered an average of 221.9 yards on the ground and 313.0 yards through the air. The Quakers, who have a +1 turnover margin, have compiled one sack and one interception this season.

Sophomore Donta' Stone leads the squad and the OAC in total tackles with 14, while junior Chris Medley and sophomore Bryce Martin are both second with 11 hits. Freshman Trevor Stutz is 0-of-1 in field goal attempts, missing from 35. Sophomore Rex Pitsinger is averaging 30.9 yards on seven punts in 2008. Wilmington is averaging 32.5 yards in kick returns.

The Quakers have collected 11 first downs, while its defense has allowed 26. Wilmington is controlling the clock for 24:07 while on defense for 35:57.

Marietta College: Head Coach Jeff Filkovski's football team is averaging 21.0 points and 471.0 yards this season, which rank eighth and fourth in the OAC, respectively. Of those yards, 76.0 come on the ground and 395.0 are through the air. The Pioneers are ranked first in passing offense and ninth in rushing offense. Marietta has converted 7of-15 third down and 0-of-0 red-zone chances. The Pioneers enter with a -2 turnover margin.

Individually, junior quarterback Dexter Hughes is 29-of-43 passing, throwing for 348 yards. He has thrown two touchdowns and one interception. Hughes ranks second in the OAC in passing yards per game (348.0) and total offense (337.0). Sophomore Cory Kriechbaum leads the team with nine receptions for 127 yards, while junior Marty Mueller has added eight catches for a team-high 157 yards. They, along with freshman Jake Long, who has five grabs for 71 yards, have one touchdown reception. Kriechbaum and Mueller are ranked second and third, respectively in the OAC in receptions per game. Senior Garrett Banks leads the ground attack with 11 rushes for 36 yards. Junior Lamar Hunter has added 11 rushes for 33 yards.

Marietta enters the week ranked sixth in scoring defense, giving up 18.0 points. The Pioneers rank fifth in total defense. It is allowing 267.0 yards per game. The Pioneers rank third against the run (70.0) and fifth against the pass (197.0). Marietta has recorded two sacks and four tackles for loss this season. The Pioneers have allowed their opponents to convert 3-of-3 red zone chances, including three touchdowns. Opponents are converting 36% (5-of-14) of their third-down opportunities against Marietta. Senior linebacker Grant Cowell leads the team with seven stops. Senior linebacker Joe Deppen and junior defensive back JR Gibson have added six hits.

Sophomore Nick Perko is averaging 32.2 yards on four punts. Marietta is averaging 36.0 yards on kick returns and 9.3 yards on punt returns this year. The Pioneers are ranked fifth in penalties, giving up 59.0 yards on six infractions. Marietta is leading in time of possession, holding onto the ball for an average of 31.36, while on defense for 28:24.

Week 3 Game Notes

THE RECORDS: Saturday marks the second game of the 2008 season and the Ohio Athletic Conference opener for both teams. Marietta College is 1-0 for the 13th time in the last 15 years, while Wilmington began the year with a loss for the sixth straight season.

GAME TIME: 6 p.m., Saturday, Sept. 20, Williams Stadium in Wilmington, Ohio.

THE COACHES: Marietta's Jeff Filkovski is in his first season as the leader of the Pioneers. Filkovski was named the 2007 OAC Assistant Coach of the Year while the offensive coordinator at Heidelberg College. He is the former signal caller for the Cologne Centurions of NFL Europe. Filkovski, who earned his bachelor's degree from Allegheny College in 1991, led the Gators to a national championship in 1990. Wilmington's Barry Wulf begins his fourth year as the Quaker's head football coach. The 1995 graduate of Wilmington has a career record of 7-24 (.226).

ALL-TIME SERIES: Saturday is the 18th time that the two teams will meet on the gridiron. The series began in 1915 with Marietta winning 68-7. The rivalry was renewed for eight years during the 1940s and 1950s The team have played eight times since Wilmington joined the OAC in 2000. During that span, Marietta has won five of the eight meetings to take a 9-8 lead in the all-time series.

LAST MEETING: The Pioneers' offense jumped out to a 35-14 lead at the half on their way to a 38-14 victory at Don Drumm Stadium on Nov. 3, 2007. Marietta out-gained Wilmington 568 to 340 on the day. Dexter Hughes had a career outing, completing 18-of-28 passes for a personal-best 399 yards and school-record-tying four touchdowns, all in the first half. Garrett Banks pulled in 24-yard and 18-yard touchdown receptions and finished with four catches for 75 yards. Lamar Hunter had a game-high 11 carries for 71 yards and one score. The Pioneer defense held the Quakers to just eight yards rushing. Clay Ream had a game-high 12 tackles, including 4.5 tackles for loss and three sacks. Wilmington's Billy Blackburn completed 30-of-53 passes and threw for 332 yards, while Marque Jones caught 13 passes for 132 yards and two scores.

LAST GAME FOR MARIETTA: The Pioneers scored a touchdown in the final minute of their season opener to defeat host Thiel (Pa.) College, 21-18, on Sept. 6. Marietta piled up 471 yards of total offense; 395 came through the air and 76 was on the ground. The Pioneers limited the Tomcats to just 267 yards, which included 70 yards on the ground and 197 through the air. Junior quarterback Dexter Hughes finished the game 29-of-43 and threw for 348 yards and two scores in the win. Junior wide out Marty Mueller had eight catches for a game-high 157 yards, while sophomore wide out Cory Kriechbaum added nine receptions for 127 yards to go along with a 47-yard touchdown pass. Defensively, senior linebacker Grant Cowell paced the team with seven total stops. Senior linebacker Joe Deppen and senior defensive back JR Gibson both added six hits in the win.

LAST GAME FOR WILMINGTON: The Quakers fell 21-7 to host Mount St. Joseph in their season opener on Sept. 6. Junior quarterback Billy Blackburn completed 8-of-31 passes and threw for 118 yards and one score. Junior wide receiver Jeremy Stuckey pulled in five passes for 65 yards and one touchdown. Sophomore defensive back Danta' Stone finished with a career-high 14 hits in the loss.

RADIO COVERAGE: Marietta College is scheduled to have WMRT-FM 88.3, its student radio station, and WMOA-AM 1490 broadcast the game for Pioneer fans. Both broadcasts will take the air with a short pregame at 5:50 p.m.

LISTEN ONLINE: Marietta College is proud to once again offer its fans on the World Wide Web the opportunity to listen to all 10 Pioneer football games through a partnership with Stretch Internet. All you need is QuickTime. For more information visit Marietta's athletic web site: http://pioneers.marietta.edu. Archives are also available to listen to or to purchase.

ESCORES: Marietta fans can once again receive scores, schedule updates and alerts directly on their cell phone or email by signing up for eScores at http://escores.stretchinternet.com.

STAY UP TO DATE: Visit http://pioneers.marietta.edu to stay up to date with all of the Marietta College athletics news.

SCHEDULE CARDS: Free Fall Schedule Cards are now available. Stop by the athletics office to pick one up today.

MEDIA GUIDES NOW ON SALE: Pioneer fans can now purchase 2008 fall sport media guides. They will be made available at all home contests and in the athletics office.

KICKING OFF 83RD SEASON OF OAC PLAY: Saturday's game will mark Marietta's 83rd season of football in the OAC. The Pioneers, who joined the league in 1926, are 303-431-29 (.413) all-time in Conference play.

NATIONAL SPOTLIGHT: The OAC has three teams ranked in the d3football.com Top 25: No. 1 Mount Union, No. 5 Capital and No. 25 Ohio Northern.

NATIONAL REPRESENTATION: Marietta's roster currently features 89 total student-athletesÑ53 from Ohio, 12 from Pennsylvania, nine from Florida, eight from West Virginia, two from Texas and one from Colorado, Connecticut, Maryland, Michigan and Massachusetts.

CAPTAINS ANNOUNCED: Marietta College will have three captains during the 2008 season: senior running back Garrett Banks, senior linebacker Grant Cowell and senior linebacker Joe Deppen.

GETTING OFF TO A QUICK START: Marietta will look to get off to a fast start out of the locker room after struggling in the first half in 2007. The Pioneers were outscored 72-30 in the first quarter and 110-38 in the second quarter last year. On the other hand, Marietta outscored its opponents 59-54 in the final frame.

CONTROLLING THE CLOCK: Marietta will look to do a better job controlling the clock in 2008. Last year, the Pioneers trailed in time of possession in eight of 10 games, and opponents held the ball for an average of 3:38 more than Marietta. Against Thiel, the Pioneers had a 3:12 advantage in time of possession.

TURNOVERS: Marietta needs to improve its turnover margin. In 2007, the Pioneers ranked 10th in the OAC and 222nd in NCAA Division III with a -17 turnover margin. Last week, they turned the ball over three times.

OAC COACHING DEBUT: Coach Filkovski is making his OAC head coaching debut with the Pioneers on Saturday. Looking back over the history of Marietta football, Pioneer coaches have gone 5-10 in their OAC debut with Marietta. That record reflects results against divisional opponents when the OAC had two divisions between 1972 and 1983.

THIS WEEK IN THE OAC: There is a full slate of games on the OAC schedule this week. No. 5 Capital visits Heidelberg and Otterbein plays host to Muskingum at 1:30 p.m. In addition, John Carroll travels to Baldwin-Wallace at 6 p.m., and No. 1 Mount Union plays host to No. 25 Ohio Northern at 7 p.m.

NEXT GAME: On Sept. 27, Marietta will play host to Baldwin-Wallace at 7 p.m. Wilmington will visit Capital for a 1:30 p.m. kickoff.

HOME OPENER: Marietta's home opener will take place in week four when Baldwin-Wallace visits Don Drumm Stadium for a 7 p.m. kickoff. It will be the fourth annual River City Bowl and Alumni Weekend. A full evening of activities are planned for all of those in attendance. In addition, the game will be broadcast locally by WTAP-TV. WTAP will carry the game live on its My 5 station (Channel 5), as well as on its web channel, http://www.wtap.com. The game will re-air that night on Fox Parkersburg (Channel 14) at 11:30 p.m. and then again on Sunday (Sept. 28) at 10 a.m.