WESTERVILLE — Freshman receiver Zyaire Lewis ran a kickoff back 87 yards for a touchdown to highlight the Otterbein football team's 51-14 loss to Marietta in Saturday afternoon's Homecoming game.

The Basics

• Records: Otterbein (0-3 overall, 0-2 OAC), Marietta (2-0 overall, 1-0 OAC)
• Venue: Memorial Stadium - Westerville, Ohio

Otterbein Stat Leaders

• Lewis tallied 124 yards on four kick returns, including an 87-yard touchdown.
• Sophomore quarterback Cayden Lassiter completed 10 of 18 passes for 125 yards and added 19 rushing yards.
• Sophomore running back Matt Griffin had 34 rushing yards and a touchdown on 17 carries.
• Junior Owen Menge was the Cardinals' leading receiver with five catches for 49 yards.
• Junior linebacker Thomas Cherry led Otterbein in tackles with nine to go with eight each from senior Justin Bartlett and freshman Colton Weisbrod.
• Redshirt senior Randy Cochran Jr. recorded an interception for the Cardinals.

Game Summary

• Marietta built a 27-0 lead going into halftime via three rushing touchdowns and one passing touchdown.
• The Pioneers made it 34-0 on a 43-yard touchdown run with 12:38 left in the third quarter.
• Lewis ran the ensuing kickoff back 87 yards down the right sideline for the Cardinals' first score of the game.
• Marietta answered with a 38-yard field goal to go up 37-7 with 8:57 left in the third quarter.
• After a Pioneer 1-yard touchdown run midway through the fourth quarter, Otterbein put together a seven-play scoring drive highlighted by a 31-yard pass from Lassiter to sophomore tight end Vincent Berardi and 10-yard completions from Lassiter to Menge and freshman Cass Cole. Following the completion to Menge, Griffin found the end zone from seven yards out with 4:12 remaining.
• The Pioneers capped the scoring with a 20-yard passing touchdown with 1:07 left.

Video Highlight

• Freshman Zyaire Lewis' kickoff-return touchdown in the third quarter

Notables

• Saturday's game marked Otterbein's 2024 home opener.
• Otterbein won six consecutive matchups with Marietta from 2012 to 2017, but the Pioneers have now won the last six meetings dating back to 2018.
• Bartlett's career totals include 197 tackles, 36 tackles for loss and 11.5 sacks. He ranks fifth all-time at Otterbein in tackles for loss and is five sacks shy of moving into fifth all-time in that category.