The Matchup: No. 2 ranked Mount Union takes on Muskingum in an Ohio Athletic Conference matchup and the final regular season home game Saturday, Nov. 9 at 1:30 p.m. at Mount Union Stadium.
Mount Union (8-0, 7-0 OAC) gave up points in the first quarter all season leading Ohio Northern 7-3 but a 35-point second quarter made it 42-3 at the half and the Raiders went on to a 63-24 win.
Mount Union quarterbacks combined to throw for five touchdowns. Freshman
Braxton Plunk (Plant City, Fla.) had three and senior
D'Angelo Fulford (Miramar, Fla.) had two while splitting duty under center. Fulford finished 14-of-17 for 228 yards while Plunk finished 8-of-10 for 168 yards.
Junior running back
Josh Petruccelli (Perry) carried the ball 24 times for 144 yards and scored two touchdowns, while receivers
Wayne Ruby, Jr. (Pembroke Pines, Fla./Flanagan) and
Justin Hill (Circleville) each had over 100 yards. Ruby caught seven passes for 154 yards and two touchdowns while Hill had seven catches for 105 yards and a touchdown. Junior
Mitch O'Hara (Avon / Lakewood St. Edward) and senior
Adam Pastor (Mantua / Walsh Jesuit) each had seven tackles while
Nate Fisette (Lancaster, Calif./Quartz Hill) had an interception for Mount Union.
Muskingum fell behind Heidelberg 35-7 at halftime and eventually took a 59-21 loss at home last week. Quarterback Brody Hahn led the Muskie offense going 12-of-18 for 192 yards with three touchdowns. Darius Hayes-Carruth had five receptions for a season-best 98 yards and a score. while running back Cameron Near led the Muskie ground game with eight rushes for 64 yards. On defense, Tim Ousley had a season-high 16 tackles and a sack.
The Series: This is the 74th meeting between the teams with Mount Union holding a 42-29-2 lead in the series that dates back to a 23-0 Muskingum win on November 3, 1906. The Raiders have won 30-straight meetings since a 17-17 tie in 1988 in Alliance. The last Muskie win in the series came in a 24-19 victory in 1984 in Alliance. A year ago, the Raiders scored 21 points in their first 11 plays from scrimmage and went on to a 52-10 win in New Concord.
Up Next: Mount Union travels to Marietta next Saturday for the regular season finale. Kickoff is at 1:30 p.m. from Don Drumm Stadium.
Scouting the Muskies: Muskingum is sixth in the OAC in total offense (366.3 yards per game) and sixth in total defense (379.0 yards per game).
The offense runs through junior quarterback Brody Hahn. The Louisville, Ohio, native has passed for 1,169 yards with six touchdowns. and also added 419 yards rushing with a team-best six touchdowns on the ground. His top receiving targets is senior Darius Hayes-Carruth, with 26 receptions for 458 yards with four touchdowns. He currently ranks fifth all-time at Muskingum with 1,384 receiving yards.
On defense, senior defensive lineman Tim Ousley with 68 tackles with seven sacks for 40 yards. Ousley is the Muskingum career sacks leader with 25 and currently ranks 11th all-time in tackles with 252. Junior linebacker Nehemiah Bowie and senior linebacker Caleb Gaiters help aid the defense with 55 stops each.
Sweet 16: Senior wide receiver
Justin Hill (Circleville) caught a touchdown pass last week against Ohio Northern and now leads the nation with 16 TD catches on the season.
Hill had 105 yards on seven catches but sophomore teammate sophomore
Wayne Ruby, Jr. (Pembroke Pines, Fla. / Flanagan) had a game-high 154 yards receiving on seven catches with two scores. It was the first time that Mount Union had two 100-plus yard receivers in 15 games dating back to last year's game at Ohio Northern when Hill and
Luke Herrington each went over the century mark.
Fantastic Four: Mount Union senior quarterback
D'Angelo Fulford (Miramar, Fla.) is once again the nation's highest rated quarterback for a fourth straight week. He was 14-of-17 for 228 yards with two TD's last week and for the season he has completed 72-percent of his passes for 1,887 yards with 29 touchdowns and just one interception for a rating of 225.7. He is just ahead of Oklahoma's Jalen Hurts at 224.3 while Reid Stinnett of San Diego leads FCS with a 186.1 rating and Roland Rivers III of Slippery Rock leads Division II with a 195.1 rating.
Not Taking a Loss: Mount Union currently leads NCAA Division in tackles for loss allowed per game at 2.50. A veteran offensive line has led the way for the Raiders with starters in senior left tackle
Sean Sherman (Springboro / Bishop Fenwick), senior left guard
Frazier Daniel (Tiffin / Tiffin Columbian), junior center
Joey Presutti (Houston, Texas / Oak Ridge), senior right guard
Jonny Todd (Canton / GlenOak) and senior right tackle
Brendan Klaus (Brighton, Mich.)
LinebackerU: Linebackers in senior
Trey Williams (Cardington / Cardington-Lincoln) and junior
Mitch O'Hara (Avon / Lakewood St. Edward) both are Mount Union's top two tacklers with 44 and 36 stops respectively.
California Dreamin': Senior
Nate Fisette (Lancaster, Calif. / Quartz Hill) had an interception against Ohio Northern which was his second of the season and tied for the team lead with junior
Malik Britt (Bossier, City, La. / Airline) and freshman
Harry Bowker (St. Augustine, Fla. / Bantram Trail).
