INDIANAPOLIS - The No. 3-ranked Marian University football team used the strength of a 20-0 first-half lead to stave off a furious Walsh University second-half rally in a 20-13 victory over the Cavaliers at St.Vincent Health Field on Saturday afternoon.

The Knights have now won six straight games for the second time in school history and earned their first-ever 6-0 start to a season.

Junior Mike Josifovski kicked a pair of field goals from 35 and 39 yards, while senior Nick Bradford had a one-yard touchdown plunge and junior Adam Wiese hit freshman Tevin Lake with a 27-yard touchdown pass.

Wiese finished 12-of-21 for 126 yards and a touchdown, while Lake had four catches for 60 yards and a touchdown. Lake also had 18 carries for 51 yards, while Bradford carried the ball seven times for 22 yards and had a touchdown.

The first Walsh touchdown came at the 5:31 mark of the third quarter and snapped a streak of three straight shutouts for the MU defense. MU had gone 219:29 without conceding a point.

Senior Reece Green led the Knights on defense with a game-high 10 tackles, while senior Isaac Jean notched eight, including one tackle-for-loss. Senior Derelle Hankins had six tackles, a sack, two tackles-for-loss and a forced fumble.

It looked as if this game was going to be no different than the previous three as the Knights marched down the field from the opening kickoff. The Knights embarked on an 11-play, 41-yard drive that chewed up the first 5:44 of the game. However, a third down pass went begging and MU settled for a 39-yard field goal by Josifovski to take a 3-0 lead.

The defense held Walsh on the ensuing drive and gave MU field position at their own 46-yard line. Wiese hit senior Dexter Taylor with a 17-yard pass before hitting freshman Tevin Lake with a 27-yard touchdown pass to open a 10-0 lead with 4:25 to go in the first quarter.

Senior Eric Sheppard picked off his second pass of the season to quell the next Walsh drive and the Knights turned that into points to open the second quarter. Josifovski hit a 35-yard field goal to cap a 12-play, 40-yard drive that took 5:38 off the clock and gave MU a 13-0 lead.

On the ensuing kickoff, a miscommunication by a Walsh upback made the kickoff a live ball and redshirt sophomore Matt Leighty pounced on the loose ball at the MU 23-yard line. Wiese hit Lake for 12 yards and Taylor for six yards before senior Nick Bradford punched it in from the one to make it 20-0 with 10:13 to go in the half.

The teams traded punts before Walsh embarked on a marathon 15-play, 70-yard drive that took 6:01 off the clock. However, a 31-yard field goal attempt went wide right to give MU the ball with 17 seconds to go. MU went to a knee and took a 20-0 lead into the locker room to push the shutout streak to 210 straight minutes.

The Knights notched 105 yards of total offense in the first half and were 4-of-8 on third down.

The second half, however, was a much different story.

Walsh drove down the field in the opening driveand the defense held. However, on the ensuing drive Wiese fumbled while being sacked to turn the ball over to Walsh at the MU 12-yard line. The defense held for the first two plays of the drive, but Walsh was able to punch in the first touchdown against the Knights since Sept. 3 on a two-yard score with 5:31 to go in the third to cut the lead to 20-6.

The Knights were forced to punt on their next drive and Walsh took full advantage as the Cavs went on another 13-play, 48-yard marathon drive to cut the lead to 20-13 with 12:04 remaining in the game.

The Walsh defense forced a turnover on downs on the next drive before both teams were forced to punt on each of their next two drives. Walsh took over for the final time at their own 21-yard line, but turned it over on downs and the Knights were able to hold on for the 20-13 win and improve to 4-0 at home in 2011.

The No. 3 Knights will remain at home as Taylor University comes to St.Vincent Health Field on Saturday afternoon at 1 p.m. The game will air LIVE on the Knights Football Radio Network with Dr. David Pierce (p-b-p) and Caleb Keller (color) calling all the action beginning at 12:45 p.m. LIVE STATISTICS will also be available at www.muknights.com.