Football opens OAC play at Ohio Northern

The Muskingum football team will open Ohio Athletic Conference play this Saturday at Ohio Northern. Game time in Ada, Ohio, is scheduled for 1:30 p.m.

The Muskies, fresh off their 31-24 season-opening win at Waynesburg, will be looking for their first 2-0 start since the 2011 campaign. Last Saturday, Muskingum churned out 308 yards of offense on 48 plays. The Muskies also mustered 13 first downs and ended the outing a perfect 3-for-3 in the red zone. The offense is led by sophomore quarterback Brody Hahn who has thrown for 237 yards with three touchdowns and one interception. Senior tight end Granger Long leads the receivers with four grabs for 93 yards and one score. Sophomore wide receiver Terry Geiger and senior running back Warren Wilson each have a touchdown reception, while freshman wide out Amin Shaheed has two catches for 55 yards. Junior running back Bernard Johnson leads the rushing attack with 37 yards on seven totes, while Wilson has also added 15 rushing yards.

The Muskingum defense is led by junior defensive end Tim Ousley and senior linebacker Brandon Schon. Ousley racked up 11 tackles, including three tackles for loss against the Yellow Jackets. Schon registered 11 stops and a half a sack. Sophomore defensive back Cortez McGinnis is averaging nine tackles per game, while sophomore defensive back Brian Brown is tallying seven stops and two pass break-ups per outing.

On special teams, sophomore kicker Ross Barnett is 1-for-1 in field goals (23 yards) and a perfect 4-for-4 in PATs. Sophomore punter Jarett Patton is averaging 38.3 yards per boot and has placed one punt inside the 20. Freshman kicker Gavin Costello is averaging 54.8 yards per kickoff. Freshman wide out Patrick Eanes is averaging 22 yards per kickoff return.

Ohio Northern will enter the contest after beating Adrian, 34-17. The Polar Bears are averaging 321 yards of offense and 15 first downs per game. Quarterback Anthony McFadden leads the offense averaging 200 yards per outing (132 passing/68 rushing). He threw for two touchdowns against the Bulldogs and had one interception. Running back Brock Martin led the ground attack with 76 yards on 17 totes with two touchdowns. Wide receiver Chad Rex hauled in a team-best 70 yards receiving and one score, while wide out Caleb Saalfeld had 52 receiving yards.

The Polar defense is paced by linebacker Mark Niles who amassed 15 stops against Adrian. Defensive back Greg Dennis had 11 hits against the Bulldogs, while linebacker David Haseleu registered 10 tackles.

Fans can follow all the action live via video, live stats, and audio on fightingmuskies.com.