WESTERVILLE, OHIO—The Otterbein senior class will be shooting for the record books as the Cardinals close out the 2010 season with two Ohio Athletic Conference (OAC) games on the road, beginning with Marietta this Saturday. Kickoff is scheduled for 1:30 p.m.
If the Cardinals can win their final two games, they play at Wilmington Nov. 13, the senior class will have finished with 28 wins, tying the Otterbein record set by the class of 1962. The squad is also shooting for its third-consecutive winning season, a feat not accomplished since Otterbein strung together four winning seasons from 1979-82.
Otterbein, 4-4 overall, heads into the weekend sitting in a three-way tie with Capital and Heidelberg for fifth place, each 3-4 in the OAC. Marietta, 2-6 overall, holds down ninth place with a 1-6 OAC mark.
The Cardinals, under head coach Joe Loth, who is in his eighth season at his alma mater, played second-ranked Mount Union tough in a 28-10 loss at home last Saturday on senior day. Otterbein led 3-0 for the first 21 minutes of the game before the Purple Raiders scored 21 in the second quarter.
Marietta, under third-year head coach Jeff Filkovski, heads into the game seeking to halt a two-game losing streak. The Pioneers fell at home to Ohio Northern, 45-6, last Saturday and on the road at Heidelberg, 49-26, Nov. 23 since winning at Wilmington, 31-28, Nov. 16. Marietta’s other win came at Thiel, 28-7, in its season opener Sept. 4.
“Marietta is a fundamentally sound, well-coached football team,” Loth said “They have an outstanding quarterback in Andrew Keller. Offensively, they try to control the clock.”
The Pioneers rank fourth in passing offense, averaging 191 yards a game, but sit eighth in total offense at a 285-yard average. Marietta holds down the sixth spot in total defense, yielding 358 yards a game.
Otterbein sits fourth in the OAC in total offense, 331 yards a game, and fourth in total defense, 307 yards an outing. The Cardinals rank second in kickoff returns, 27.8-yard average; punting, 33.9 net yards a punt; red-zone offense, scoring on 30 of 33 chances; and time of possession, 32:10 per game.
Individually, in NCAA Division III, junior defensive back Dominic Jones ranks second in kickoff returns, averaging 32.7 yards; Korpieski shares 21st in most interceptions, averaging .62 a game; senior place-kicker David Brewer shares 14th for field goals made, averaging 1.12 a game; and Coy shares 35th in rushing at 105 yards per game.
Marietta and Otterbein are tied in the all-time series which began in 1892, each winning 41 games. Last season in Marietta, the Pioneers scored with 57 seconds to play to upset seventh-ranked Otterbein, 25-22. Otterbein lost five offensive starters in the game, including quarterback Austin Schlosser.
