Muskingum downs Football 23-7 in defensive battle on Homecoming Weekend
By Tim Glon
ADA — Homecoming Weekend had beautiful weather with two dominant defensive efforts as Muskingum posted a 23-7 football victory over Ohio Northern on Saturday at Dial-Roberson Stadium.
The Polar Bears fall to 1-6 overall and are 1-5 in the Ohio Athletic Conference, while the Muskies improve to 4-3, 3-3.
ONU's defense limited MU to 280 yards of total offense while ONU gained 321.
Muskingum had 141 of its yards on two possessions, scoring on drives of 67 and 74 yards to go ahead 14-0 with 4:34 left in the opening half.
Freshman Adan Figueroa (Orange City, Fla./University) then connected on a 38-yard touchdown pass to senior Nate Dean (Euclid/Villa Angela-Saint Joseph) to get ONU within 14-7 with 3:51 left in the half.
Northern got the ball back before halftime and drove into Muskingum territory, but the Muskies intercepted a pass and ran it back to the ONU 30 with 20 seconds left. A personal foul by Ohio Northern advanced the ball to the 15 and MU scored with 13 seconds left to lead 20-7 at halftime.
The Polar Bear offense got to midfield or into Muskungum territory on seven of its final nine possessions, but were able to put only seven points on the board.
Senior All-American Brock Martin (Attica/Seneca East) ran 15 times for 86 yards and caught three passes for 19 yards for ONU. Figueroa ended the day 14-of-32 passing for 197 yards and a score.
Sophomore Dalton Tjong (Cumming, Ga./West Forsyth) had 14 tackles and a TFL and freshman A.J. DeSousa (DeBary, Fla./University) had a career-high nine tackles and a PBU to lead the Ohio Northern defense.
The Polar Bears will take to the road for their next two contests, playing at Marietta on Oct. 29 and at Otterbein on Nov. 5 before wrapping up their season at home against Wilmington.
