INDIANAPOLIS - Playing through windy conditions, the Marian football team poured on 24 first half points Saturday afternoon as they downed Siena Heights 24-2 on senior day. Marian's win improves their win total to 7-1 on the year and 5-1 in MSFA Mideast play. 

SENIOR PHOTOS | ACTION PHOTOS

The Knights defense continued their string of strong performances, opening the afternoon by forcing consecutive three and outs. Tyler Bukur and Logan Blake led the defensive charge early, and with a short field at hand the Knights came away with a Marlon Pomili 41-yard field goal on their second drive of the contest.

Siena Heights would pick up three first downs on their next series, but had their drive stalled after Deon Pettiford came around the end for an eight-yard sack. Taking over at their 19 after a punt, Baron Huebler and Zach Bundalo moved the chains on an eight play series, with the senior quarterback capping the 81-yard series with a 32-yard touchdown pass to CJ Young. 

Leading 10-0 after the first quarter, the Knights wasted little time adding to their lead as a hurried pass forced by Trevor Adler led to a Jake Paris interception, with the linebacker racing 36 yards for his first career touchdown. Paris' pick six was the first of a string of defensive highlights, as Pettiford would get his second sack to end the next Saints possession. David Badescu came off the edge and blocked his first career punt after the sack to set up great field position, placing Marian on the 11 after the tight end's 20-yard return. Fellow tight end Drew Byerly took two plays out of the wildcat and gained 11 yards, capping a short series with his second career rushing touchdown. 

With a 24-0 lead at hand, the Knights looked to add to their lead mutliple times with three additional second quarter possessions, but came up empty resulting in two punts and an interception. The defense would play stout to end the half forcing two kicks as Blake and Paris hounded the Saints, and forced a hail mary attempt on the half's final play to sail incomplete.

Marian struggled to move the ball in the second half as penalties and and incompletions wiped away a pair of series. On Marian's second drive of the quarter Taylor Soper was unable to handle a snap, and batted the ball out of the back of the end zone which resulted in a safety. The first safety Marian had allowed in 24 games put points on the board for Siena Heights, but they failed to ride the momentum as a 13-play drive ended in a turnover on downs. 

A Logan Blake sack slammed the fourth and goal play at the Marian 18, and the Knights were able to drain the clock as the game moved into the fourth quarter, running a nine-minute series. The defense would force one final punt after missing a field goal, and were able to melt the final 4:02 off the clock gaining a first down on a pass from Bundalo to Young.

The 24-2 win was highlighted by a strong defensive effort, as Marian held Siena Heights to 141 yards, while forcing 11 missed third down conversions and eight punts. Blake was all over the field on defense making 12 total tackles which included a sack and two tackles for loss, and Paris had seven including his pick-six. Pettiford had six tackles with two sacks in the win. 

Bundalo finished the game completing 14-of-20 passes for 152 yards and one score, and Huebler rushed for 69 yards. Byerly had 35 total yards on the ground and through the air, and Ben Stevens hauled in a team-leading five receptions for 42 yards. Young led all Marian receivers with 43 yards. 

Marian will finish the regular season on the road, traveling to Lawrence Tech next Saturday. Kickoff in Southfield, Michigan, is set for 12 p.m.

MUKnights.com: Your online source for Marian Athletics, tickets, multimedia, Knight merchandise, photos and more.