SHU Football Falls to #3 Marian

ADRIAN, Mich. -- The Siena Heights football team dropped a 31-3 contest to No. 3 Marian (Ind.) in Mid-States Football Association Mideast League action at O'Laughlin Stadium on Saturday.

Linebacker Tyler Karcher (Middleville, Mich./Thornapple-Kellogg) had 7 1/2 sacks, defensive lineman Jordan Martin (Hartland, Mich./Hartland) recovered a fumble and defensive back DeShawn Gilbert (Detroit, Mich./Clawson) made an interception to lead the Saints' defensive effort.

SHU trailed 10-0 at halftime before getting its only points on a 21-yard field goal by kicker Jonah Harter (Grand Rapids, Ohio/Otsego). The visiting Knights (3-0, 1-0) then ran off 21 consecutive points to pull away.

Other top tacklers for the Saints included defensive back Sederick Dunbar II (Detroit, Mich./Ferndale), who had 6 1/2 stops, and linebackers Trent Bragg (Lansing, Mich./Frederick Douglass) and Chris Vann (South Bend, Ind./John Adams), who finished with six tackles apiece.

Offensively, the Saints gained 209 yards. Running back Travis Damron (Warren, Ohio/Champion) had 11 carries for 32 yards and tight end Donovan Campbell (South Bend, Ind./Clay) caught three passes for 23 yards.

Siena Heights' longest play happened when the hosts faked a punt. Punter Kyle Timmis (Wyandotte, Mich./Roosevelt) found defensive back Michael Butler (Romulus, Mich./Romulus) for a 29-yard reception on fourth-and-1. The Saints converted their field goal later on the drive.

Both Matt King (Rockville, Ind./Rockville) and Travis Zajkowski (Morley, Mich./Morley-Stanwood) saw action at the quarterback position. King was 8 of 15 for 45 yards while Zajkowski went 3 of 7 for 35 yards.

The Knights were led by quarterback Adam Wiese, who completed 21 of 31 passes for 301 yards and four touchdowns. Running back Tevin Lake had 19 rushes for 75 yards and two receptions for 75 yards.

For the Marian defense, defensive lineman Seth Vondersaar made six tackles while he, linebackers Devin Bennett, Dan Brunke, Avenor Jacquet, Obed Jean and Garrett Pritt finished with half-sacks. Defensive back Courtney Dodd had one interception, which he returned 50 yards.

Marian, the defending MSFA Mideast League champ, opened the scoring on a six-yard pass from Wiese to running back Brandon Sherman and then increased the advantage to 10 points on a 41-yard field goal by kicker Michael Josifovski.

After Harter's three-pointer, Wiese connected with Lake, tight end Nathan Jones and wide receiver Anthony Jones Jr. on touchdown passes of 68, 6 and 29 yards, respectively.

The Saints (1-2, 0-1) will return to action in MSFA Mideast play when they visit Concordia for a 1 p.m. kickoff.