Muskingum erupted for a season-high 474 yards of offense, which included a season-best 416 yards rushing en route to beating Capital on Saturday night in McConagha Stadium, 36-20.
Leading the Muskie rushing attack was junior Melvin Smith who rumbled for a career-high 153 yards on 25 carries with one touchdown. Smith averaged 6.1 yards per tote. Junior Desmond Waden added a career-best 96 yards on seven carries, which included a 60-yard touchdown run midway through the third quarter.
Junior quarterback Cody Williams rushed for 78 yards on 17 rushes for one touchdown. Williams also went 5-of-9 for 58 yards and one score. Junior running back Dominic Bell rushed for 48 yards on four totes, which included a 33-yard touchdown run early in the third quarter. Freshman wide receiver Aron Sutton rounded out the strong ground assault with 42 yards on four carries.
Capital entered the outing averaging 400.5 yards per game rushing, which ranked third in NCAA Division III. The Muskie defense answered the challenge and held the Crusaders to 169 yards rushing on 46 attempts. The defense ended the night with four sacks for 25 yards, two fumble recoveries and one interception.
The strong defensive effort was paced by junior linebacker Chaney Fulton who registered a game-high 13 stops, with 3.5 tackles for loss and one sack, while also adding a fumble recovery and one pass break-up. Junior linebacker Zach Barry and senior linebacker Damond Goggins each had eight stops.
Muskingum struck first early in the opening quarter on a career-best 42-yard field goal by sophomore Cody Dent. The score was setup by senior defensive lineman Tony Moore's hit on Capital quarterback Nick Iske who fumbled the ball that Muskingum's Barry recovered.
Capital struck back on a 73-yard touchdown pass from Iske to Brent Walton to take a 6-3 lead with 11:22 left in the opening quarter. The extra point attempt failed.
The Muskies responded with a 13-play, 89-yard drive that culminated with Willams scoring on a 10-yard touchdown run with 4:55 on the clock. Dent's extra point gave Muskingum a 10-6 lead.
Capital took advantage of a Muskie fumble deep in its own territory late in the second quarter to take a 13-10 lead on Walton's 12-yard touchdown run.
Muskingum grabbed the momentum back in the waning seconds of the opening half on a 24-yard touchdown pass from Williams to senior receiver Marvin Morris. The score capped off a six-play, 77-yard drive and sent Muskingum into the half with a 16-13 lead.
The Muskies made it 23-13 on their opening possession of the second half on Bell's 33-yard touchdown run.
Muskingum then took control of the outing on Waden's 60-yard burst to the end zone to stretch the Muskie lead to 30-13 with 7:21 to play in the third quarter.
Smith completed the Muskie scoring with a 12-yard run at the 1:19 mark of the fourth quarter.
Overall, the Muskies churned out 24 first downs, were 6-of-12 on third-down conversions and 3-of-4 in the red zone.
Iske led the Crusaders on the ground with 83 yards on 25 carries. Walton entered the game leading the Ohio Athletic Conference in yards rushing averaging nearly 200 yards per outing. The Muskies limited him to 52 yards and one score on 10 carries.
Iske went 7-of-20 for 175 yards and two touchdowns with one interception. Walton had three grabs for 126 yards and one score and Jake Skelton had one grab for one touchdown.
Joe Rodriguez led the Capital defense with 12 tackles and TJ Langermeier added seven stops and recovered one fumble.
With the win, Muskingum moves to 1-2 overall and 1-1 in the OAC. Capital falls to 2-1 overall and 1-1 in league play.
Muskingum next plays at Baldwin Wallace on Saturday, October 4. The Homecoming game is scheduled for a 2:00 p.m. start.
