Football: Muskingum (3-3 Overall, 2-3 OAC) at Ohio Northern (2-4 Overall, 2-3 OAC)
Saturday, Oct. 22, 2016, 1:30 pm, Dial-Roberson Stadium, Ada, Ohio
Saturday's Contest: Saturday's game is the seventh game of the season and the third home contest of the year for Ohio Northern. It is also Homecoming Weekend at ONU.
ONU Head Coach Dean Paul: Paul in his 13th season at ONU with an 86-44 record. He is 126-56 in 17 seasons overall and is 10-2 against MU.
MU head coach Al Logan: Logan is in his 10th season at MU with a 26-70 record. He is 2-8 against ONU.
Last Year's Meeting: WR Reed Allen returned the opening kickoff for a touchdown to jump start Ohio Northern to a 42-7 victory at Muskingum. Allen returned the opening kickoff for a touchdown, caught 3 passes for 18 yards and another score and had 140 yards of total offense to lead ONU. In his first career start, QB Ricardo Johnson completed 14-of-17 passes for 116 yards and two scores and ran 12 times for 76 yards and a TD. RB Justin Magazine carried the ball 20 times for 89 yards and two scores and caught three passes for 25 yards and a TD. Defensively, LB Zach Meronoff had a career-high nine tackles to lead the Northern defense. Northern limited MU to 30 yards of total offense and no first downs in the first half and led 28-0 at halftime. Each team had the ball exactly 30 minutes and ONU out-gained MU 274-214 in total offense.
ONU Last Week: Ohio Northern freshman RB Christiaan Williams rushed for more than 100 yards for the sixth consecutive game, but five turnovers were too much to overcome as John Carroll edged ONU 20-16 in Ada. Williams snapped off a 63-yard run in the first quarter and finished the day with 113 yards rushing on 20 carries. Sophomore QB Will Freed completed 15-of-28 passes for 227 yards and a score and senior WR Reed Allen caught six passes for a season-high 134 yards and a score for ONU. Junior LB Zach Schmerge had a game-high 12 tackles to lead the Polar Bear defense. A 22-yard field goal by sophomore K Joe French put ONU up 16-13 with 8:27 left in the third quarter. But the next four Polar Bear possessions would end in turnovers, one at the JCU 19 and three more inside the ONU 40. JCU scored on a 13-yard TD run with 10:26 left in the game to take the lead for good. Ohio Northern would out-gain John Carroll 310-309 in total offense despite JCU holding the ball for 39:20 and running 27 more plays than the hosts.
ONU Leaders: The ONU running game is led by freshman RB Christiaan Williams (132 att, 773 yards, 6 TDs) and sophomore WR Chad Rex (18 att, 115 yards, 2 TDs). Sophomore QB Will Freed has completed 118-of-214 passes for 1,403 yards and 9 TDs. Sophomore WR Chad Rex (28 rec., 238 yards, 3 TDs), freshman RB Christiaan Williams (25 rec., 230 yards) and senior WR Reed Allen (23 rec, 329 yards, 2 TDs) lead the ONU receivers. Senior S Dan Eller, junior LB Zach Schmerge and senior S Jason Lucas lead the defense with 56, 55 and 44 tackles, respectively. Senior DL Scott Rapps leads the team with 3.5 sacks and 9.5 TFL.
MU Last Week: Muskingum rallied from a 13-0 third quarter deficit to win 14-13 at Baldwin Wallace. Griffin Degener scored on a 1-yard run in the third period and Warren Wilson scored ona 1-yard run with 4:51 left in the game to complete the comeback. RB Jordan Scanlon rushed for 66 yards on 16 totes to lead MU. Muskingum is off to its best start since the 2011 season. BW out-gained MU 321-242 in total offense.
MU Leaders: The MU running game is led this season by RB Jordan Scanlon (103 att., 370 yards, 2 TDs) and QB Griffin Degener (85 att, 139 yards, w TDs). QB Griffin Degener is 98-of-151 passing for 1114 yards and 8 TDs. TE Granger Long (29 rec., 329 yards, 2 TDs) and WR Jordan Scanlon (25 rec., 191 yards, 3 TDs) lead the MU receivers. LB Mick Fishel, LB Chaney Fulton and DE Tre'Von Potts lead the MU defense with 47, 47 and 31 tackles, respectively. Fishel leads MU with 2.0 sacks.
ONU Statistical Leaders
Rushing Yds. |
Passing Yds. |
Receiving Yds. |
Tackles | Sacks | ||||||||||||||
1. | Williams |
773 |
1. | Freed |
1,403 |
1. | Allen |
329 |
1. | Schmerge | 58 |
1. |
Rapps |
3.5 |
||||
2. | Rex |
115 | 2. |
Sotka |
24 |
2. |
Nolletti | 293 |
Eller | 55 | 2. | Hundley |
3.0 |
|||||
3. |
Haseleu | 64 |
3. |
Bergman |
8 |
3. |
Rex | 238 |
3. |
Lucas |
44 |
3. |
Aguilar |
1.5 |
All-Time Series: ONU leads the series between the two schools by a 28-23-2 margin. ONU has won the last four games, including a 42-7 decision in New Concord last year.