Marietta really needed this one.
The Blue Devils collected their first victory of the season Friday, scoring 16 points in less than a minute and half midway through the fourth quarter to break open a close game they had controlled throughout on their way to a 30-12 victory over South Cobb at renovated Northcutt Stadium.
Marietta, whose first three opponents entered play this week with a combined record of 8-0, has next weekend off before starting play in Region 4-AAAAAA. Their first four games will be against the region’s four playoff teams from 2014, beginning with defending champion Hillgrove and runner-up McEachern in the first two.
“This was a real gut-check for us,” Marietta coach Scott Burton said. “It’s hard to ask 15-, 16- and 17-year-old kids to keep believing when there hasn’t been much evidence for them to believe. But I’ve said before about this group of kids that they are a very invested and resilient group of kids that I just love to death. So I’m not surprised that they did believe and responded, because that’s the kind of character that they have.”
Marietta led 14-12 when it recorded its second safety of the night, this one when South Cobb quarterback Jermaine Smith was called for intentional grounding in the end zone. Marietta’s Devon Henderson returned the ensuing free kick 52 yards for a touchdown and a 23-12 lead with 5:51 to play.
The Blue Devils recovered a fumble at the South Cobb 42-yard-line on the second play of the Eagles’ next drive, and Malachi Diggs threw a 45-yard touchdown pass to De’Wayne Smith two plays later to put the game away.
Marietta’s defense showed no signs of the unit that gave up 40.3 points per game in its three losses, especially early. The Blue Devils held South Cobb to minus-8 yards in the first half and 84 for the game. Most of the Eagles’ offense came from Smith, who rushed for 65 yards on 13 carries and passed for 58 yards.
South Cobb (1-2) also hurt itself with penalties. A holding call wiped out a 27-yard touchdown pass late in the first quarter, and a 27-yard pass and an interception were called back in the second half. Marietta also turned two fumble recoveries and a partially blocked punt into 12 points.
The Eagles’ biggest play came when Tyreik Fitzpatrick returned the second-half kickoff 92 yards for a touchdown.
Marietta finished with 246 yards, 171 of which came from the running game. Christian Clark was the leading rusher with 56 yards on 15 carries. Henderson had 50 yards on five carries, and Michael Spencer carried 11 times for 46 yards.
“On the scoreboard it looks like we’ve been giving up a lot of points, and we have, but a lot of that has been our offense not having any rhythm,” Burton said. “I didn’t think we had any offensive rhythm tonight, but our defense has battled and they just continued to stiffen time after time after time.”
South Cobb – 0-0-6-6 – 12
Marietta – 8-6-0-16 – 30
M – Safety
M – Malachi Diggs 1 run (run failed)
M – Luke Mozley 29 field goal
M – Mozley 26 field goal
S – Tyreik Fitzpatrick 92 kickoff return (kick failed)
S – Dorquincy Jordan 5 run (pass failed)
M – Safety
M – Devon Henderson 52 free kick return (Mozley kick)
M – De’Wayne Smith 45 pass from Diggs (Mozley kick)
