The Muskingum football team travels to Capital on Saturday to battle the Crusaders in their final game of the season and wrap-up Ohio Athletic Conference play. The kickoff is scheduled for 1:30 p.m. at Bernlohr Stadium.
The Muskies enter the game at 2-7 overall and 1-7 in conference play. Muskingum is averaging 335.9 yards and 19.6 points per game. The offense is led by junior quarterback Brody Hahn who has passed for 1,194 yards with six touchdowns. Hahn has also added 433 yards rushing with six touchdowns.
Hahn's top receiving targets are senior Darius Hayes-Carruth, sophomore Jacob Quinn, and freshman Tyler Heinecke. Hayes-Carruth has a team-best 28 receptions for 463 yards with four touchdowns. He currently ranks fifth all-time at Muskingum with 1,389 receiving yards. Quinn has 16 grabs for 164 yards and two scores, while Heinecke has 14 receptions for 199 yards.
Leading the Muskie rushing attack this season is senior running back Bernard Johnson and freshman running back Jeffrey Curtis. Johnson has rumbled for 422 yards and two touchdowns, while Curtis has racked up 346 yards with three touchdowns.
Sophomore kicker Gavin Costello and junior punter Jarett Patton pace the Muskie special teams. Costello is eight-of-nine on field-goal attempts and 19-of-20 in extra-point attempts. Patton is averaging 38.2 yards per boot, with four inside the 20 and 11 fair catches.
Muskingum's defense, which is allowing 406.1 yards and 34.7 points per outing, is led by senior defensive lineman Tim Ousley with 74 tackles with 8.5 sacks for 49 yards. Ousley is the Muskingum career sacks leader with 26.5 and currently ranks 11th all-time in tackles with 258. Junior linebacker Nehemiah Bowie and senior linebacker Caleb Gaiters help anchor the defense with 60 and 59 stops on the season.
Capital stands at 0-9 overall and 0-8 in the OAC and the Muskies lead the all-time series 38-28-2. The Crusaders are averaging 242.7 yards and 8.8 points per game. Junior quarterback Mitchell Machock leads the offense with 829 passing yards and six touchdowns through the air, and senior receiver David Barnett leads the team with 507 yards receiving and has two touchdown catches. Senior running back Evin Butler leads the ground game with 252 yards.
The Crusader defense is allowing 492.1 yards and 53.4 points per game. Senior linebacker Kole Carter leads the Capital defense with 71 stops. Junior linebacker Blayde McCully adds 56 tackles, while freshman linebacker Nick Fisanick has registered 53 hits.
