MARIETTA, Ohio – The Otterbein football team saw plenty of chances Saturday afternoon at Marietta, but unfortunately came up on the short end of a 21-10 loss to the Pioneers inside Don Drumm Stadium.
 
The Cardinals fall to 2-7 on the season with the loss, snapping a two-game winning streak, and will host Wilmington in the season finale for both teams next Saturday inside Memorial Stadium at 1:30 p.m.
 
Marietta gets back over the .500 mark with the victory, improving to 5-4 overall and an even 44 within the league.
 
Otterbein dominated time of possession in the first half, holding the ball for 15:56 of game time and entering opponent territory on multiple occasions. All the Cards were able to show for that by halftime was a 25-yard field goal from Nate Strong, as the other opportunities saw a turnover on downs followed by a botched snap/hold sequence during another short field-goal attempt.
 
Marietta finally hit the scoreboard on its last drive of the first half, when Kyle McSweeney found Justin Bell in the end zone for a nine-yard touchdown reception with just four seconds on the clock. That moment capped a 16-play, 64-yard drive.
 
Marietta took a 14-3 lead late in the third quarter after Strong's 23-yard field goal attempt was blocked by Tay Pryor, resulting in an 84-yard scoop-and-score by James Knox. Otterbein responded with an eight play, 76-yard drive of its own, with sophomore Matt Webb running it in from eight yards out to make the deficit 14-10.
 
The Pioneers, starting with a short field soon after, using four plays to cover 30 yards capped off with a Bryce Agnew eight-yard scamper into the end zone. Marietta would hang on to that 21-10 advantage the rest of the way.
 
The Cardinal offense was paced by freshman quarterback Logan Pharmer completing 23 of 50 passes for a season-high 353 yards. George Redding hauled in nine of Pharmer's passes for a career-high 118 yards on the afternoon, while Reed Tucker pitched in with six catches for 92 yard of his own.
 
Freshman running back Jordan Bost-Floyd, the reigning OAC Offensive Player of the Week, steadied the Cardinals ground game with 13 carries for 73 yards. Ryan Tuchow and Niall Lewison both had 10 tackles for the defense, with Tuchow also snagging an interception.
 
The Cards finished with a decisive 425-259 edge in total offense and 21-14 advantage on first downs, but couldn't make the key plays at key times. Otterbein was 0 of 4 on fourth down as well.