Game Notes
WESTERVILLE, Ohio—The Otterbein University football team heads back out for its second-straight road game, traveling to Marietta College for an Ohio Athletic Conference (OAC) matchup. Kickoff is scheduled for 1:30 p.m. in Don Drumm Stadium.
The Cardinals, 6-2 overall and 5-2 in OAC play, share fourth place in the OAC with John Carroll University (6-2, 5-2), two games behind league leader University of Mount Union (8-0, 7-0). Marietta, 0-8 overall, is seeking its first conference win.
First-year head coach Tim Doup, coming off a huge win at crosstown-rival Capital University, has spent some of this week trying to get his players focused for the Pioneers.
“Our guys have got to be really focused,” Doup said. “I told them yesterday (Thursday) I didn’t think we were ready yet.
“Marietta is dangerous,” Doup continued. “They beat us two out of the last three years. Knocked us out of the playoffs in ’09. Beat us here last year on a last-second field goal. It took everything in ’10 to win down there. Plus it’s a rough place to play.”
Otterbein heads into the game off a 23-7 victory over Capital, which snapped a two-game losing streak. The Cardinal defense returned two interceptions for touchdowns in the closing minutes to put the game away.
With the score 10-9 in Otterbein’s favor, junior defensive end Patrick Seesholtz intercepted a pass at the line of scrimmage and ran it in for a 24-yard touchdown with 3:43 to play. On the very next series, with Capital driving to the Otterbein 29-yard line, sophomore safety Zach Guillozet intercepted the ball on the 8-yard line and returned it 92 yards for a touchdown with 2:13 to go.
“Beating Capital, as a first-year head coach, it’s always good to beat your rival,” Doup said. “But more importantly, I think it was good for the seniors to get at least a 2-2 record against Capital. I think they deserved it. They played hard. I thought all of our guys played hard.”
Marietta, under fifth-year head coach Jeff Filkovski, has had several close games this season, three of them decided by six points or less to Case Western Reserve University, 26-23, Capital, 13-7, and Wilmington College, 13-12.
“We have to play with intensity, play hard, 100 percent the whole game,” Doup said about the keys to beating Marietta. “Coming off of Capital, I’ve got to make sure our players psyche is right. I think we need to get Marietta down first. If we let them hang in, it’s going to be a ball game, just like last year.”
Following Marietta, Otterbein hosts Ohio Northern University, 1:30 p.m., Nov. 10 on Senior Day.
