St. Louis, Mo. - Fueled by a lethal aerial combination of Zach Bundalo and Ben Stevens, the Marian football team amounted a 45-7 road victory over Missouri Baptist Saturday afternoon. The Knights first road win of the year pushes their record to 3-0 on the season.

The Knights received the opening kickoff, and wasted no time putting points on the board as Zach Bundalo capped a 78-yard drive with a 60-yard touchdown strike to Ben Stevens on the game's third play, giving Marian an early 7-0 lead after 1:06 of game time. Marian's opportunistic defense pounced on the next series as Diomoni Small made his first interception of the season. Marian was unable to capitalize, but got the ball back later in the quarter after a muffed punt, as Tyler Bukur forced a fumble which Trevor Adler fell on.

Marian drove the ball 99 yards after the defense's second takeaway of the afternoon, going through Baron Huebler on the opening plays. After the sophomore crossed into the 1000-yard club for his career, Bundalo went back to the air hitting Stevens for a gain of 21 to move the chains. The series ended two plays later, with Bundalo finding his favorite weapon for a 57-yard touchdown. Marian carried a 14-0 lead into the second quarter after the Stevens score.

The offense continued to march downfield in the second quarter, as a 41-yard reception from Jake Reichard, and finished with a Huebler two-yard touchdown run. Another turnover would lead to points as Adrian Cuevas forced a fumble which was scooped up by Deon Pettiford, and four plays later Marian added points with a Marlon Pomili field goal. Marian touched the ball twice to close the half, and scored on their first chance with Bundalo finding Stevens for their touchdown connection, pushing the score to 31-0 after the 57-yard strike with 4:00 remaining in the half. Marian's final chance came in the waning minute, but after attempting to break through a tackle on a 43-yard gain, the senior Stevens fumbled, effectively ending the half.

Marian's 31-0 lead at the break was headlined by Bundalo and Stevens, as the connection combined for 248 yards in the air, while the defense forced three takeaways. In the first half alone, Stevens set Marian's single game record for receiving yards.

The defense made the first splash play coming out of halftime, stopping the Spartans as they were knocking on the door of the red zone, with Jayshawn Underwood coming up with his first career interception. The Knights put points on the board four minutes after the turnover, with Bundalo linking up with Jacob Pressler for a 20-yard score. With a 38-0 lead, Marian began to mix in their reserves, with the backups on defense making a quick impact by forcing a three-and-out.

The Spartans would score the only points of the game in the third quarter, as Charvell Mccall jumped a swing route from James Arnold and took an interception 45 yards to the house for a score. Marian shut down the Spartans the rest of the way, forcing a pair of turnover on downs. The final points of the game came with 6:35 to play in the game, as a 56-yard reception from Tristan Polk to Greg Atkinson Jr. set up a short score for William Gibson, putting a stamp on the 45-7 victory. 

Marian was credited with 575 yards of offense in the win, while the defense limited Missouri Baptist to 280. Bundalo established a career-high with 390 passing yards and four scores, with Stevens record of 283 yards leading the receivers. Stevens hauled in eight passes with three going for scores, as each of his touchdown receptions were longer than 50 yards. Through the ground Marian gained 129 yards, and were led by Gibson, and Huebler.

On defense Marian's four forced turnovers were a season high, and Cuevas led the Knights with 4.0 tackles. Jake Paris made 3.5 stops, and Deon Pettiford led the unit with 1.5 sacks.  

Marian will return home next week, taking on Taylor next Saturday at 1:05 p.m. on Homecoming and Family Weekend at Marian University.

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