Tigers Fall to Bobcats
Staff Reports

CAMBRIDGE - Coming into their matchup with the Cambridge Bobcats the Marietta Tigers knew they needed to slow down tailback Tyler Hardesty if they were going to come out with the victory.

Instead of being contained Hardesty ran for 257 yards and four touchdowns on 41 carries as Cambridge defeated Marietta 41-27.

Hardesty's performance overshadowed a solid outing by Marietta southpaw quarterback Cody Westbrook who connected on 14-of-26 pass attempts for 285 yards and three touchdown strikes.

Perry Wheeler rushed for 72 yards and a score on 14 carries but Marietta managed just 65 in the game.

Cambridge piled up 313 yards rushing and out gained the Tigers by just 30 yards, 380 to 350 on the night.

Westbrook connected with Morgan Wynn on a 19 yard scoring strike in the first quarter to give Marietta the early lead at 7-0 but Hardesty countered for Cambridge, notching two of his four touchdowns in the first quarter to put Cambridge up for good.

The Bobcats outscored Marietta 20-0 in the second quarter to lead 34-7 at the break but Marietta battled back in the second half, outscoring Cambridge 20-7 over the final two periods.

Marietta scored twice early in the third quarter to close the gap to 34-20 on scores of 65 yards from Westbrook to Billy Grizer and 11 yards from Westbrook to Eschbaugh.

Hardesty caped out Cambridge's scoring with his final touchdown late in the third.

Wheeler scored from three yards out in the fourth to cap the scoring.

Cambridge 41, Marietta 27

Marietta 7 0 13 7 -27

Cambridge 14 20 7 0 -41

1st 2nd 3rd 4th Final
Marietta 7 0 13 7 27
Cambridge 14 20 7 0 41
Scoring plays
First quarter
M: Morgan Wynn 19 pass from Cody Westbrook (Zane Eschbaugh kick), 9:10.
C: Tyler Hardesty 1 run (Nick Liptak kick), 4:31.
C: Hardesty, 9 run (Liptak kick), 1:32.
Second quarter
C: Hardesty 4 run (Nick Snellgrove, pass from Zach Freeman), 10:03
C: Liptak 46 field goal, 4:27.
C: Ben Shepard 26 pass from Billy Webb (kick failed), 3:26.
C: Liptak 40 field goal, 0:10.
Third quarter
M: Billy Grizer 65 pass from Westbrook (run failed), 7:03.
M: Eschbaugh 11 pass from Westbrook (Eschbaugh kick), 3:10.
C: Hardesty 46 run (Liptak kick), 1:07.
Fourth quarter
M: Perry Wheeler 3 run (Eschbaugh kick), 4:44.
Team statistics
MHS CHS
First downs 17 20
Rushes-yards 19-65 54-313
Passing yards 285 67
Total offense 350 380
Passes (C-A-I) 14-26-0 4-6-0
Penalties-yards 10-119 10-95
Fumbles-lost 2-2 3-0
Punts-avg. 3-35.0 2-34.0
Individual leaders
RUSHING:  
Marietta: Rushing: Perry Wheeler 14-72, TD; Connor Hess 3-14; Cody Westbrook 2/(-21); 
Cambridge: Tyler Hardesty 41-257; Billy Webb 5-0; Taylor Leppla 1-3; Nate McVicker 1-26; Snellgrove 1-3; Tyler Berger 3-16; Dashaun Lewis 2-8
PASSING: 
Marietta: Cody Westbrook 14-26-285 yds, 3 TDs;
Cambridge: Billy Webb 4-6-0-67.
RECEIVING:  
Marietta: Perry Wheeler 3-72; Morgan Wynn 3-47, TD; Zane Eschbaugh 3-40, TD; Billy Grizer 2-74, TD; Josh Benson 1-24; Connor Hess 1-20; Jake George 1-8
Cambridge: Leppla 2-28, Shepard 1-26, McVicker 1-13.

Story from The Marietta Times 8-30-2008.