Marietta claw back to pick up win against Circleville
By: Charlie Lusk
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MARIETTA, Ohio (WOUB) – In a week 6 matchup, the Marietta Tigers hosted the Circleville Tigers in a matchup of the Tigers. Both teams got off to strong starts but were looking for one more signature win before the peak of conference play started. This was the first game these two teams played against each other. Despite this, the fixture was a gritty, physical game, and Marietta would secure the win 21-17.
Both teams forced stops defensively as yards were hard to come by. In their second offensive drive, Marietta took a deep shot to the endzone intercepted by Jack Kline. On the ensuing drive Circleville made several big plays that would be called back due to penalties. Circleville was forced to punt, but they would force a fumble on the punt giving them back possession. Circleville capitalized on the following turnover. They would finally get on the scoreboard when Drew Thornsley broke off a 53-yard rushing touchdown.
Throughout the half, yards and points came at a premium. Circleville is a team that loves to throw deep passes but seemingly every 50-50 ball that they threw was shut down by the Marietta secondary. This forced them to rely on several screen plays and runs to Drew Thornsley to gain first downs.
Despite the suffocating performance from Marietta’s defense in the first half, they were unable to grab points until halfway through the second quarter. Marietta was only able to get this spark off a fumble in Circleville’s territory. Marietta then scored on a 20-yard rushing touchdown by Braydon Frye to make the score 7 to 6.
Halfway through the 3rd quarter, Circleville went up 17 to 6. But after the offensive spark to end the first half, the Marietta offense picked up momentum scoring 15 unanswered points. The Marietta Tigers came back home to grab a gritty, statement victory. Circleville lost another close game to fall to 3-3. As for Marietta, they improved to 5-1 to greatly improve their standing in a stacked region 11 playoff standings.