Late rally falls short as Football drops 42-30 decision to Muskingum

ADA — Ohio Northern scored two late touchdowns, but its rally fell short in a 42-30 loss to Muskingum on Saturday afternoon at Dial-Roberson Stadium.

The Basics

• Records: Ohio Northern (3-2 Overall, 2-2 OAC), Muskingum (4-1 Overall, 3-1 OAC)
• Venue: Dial-Roberson Stadium - Ada, Ohio.

The Game

• Trailing 42-17, ONU scored a pair of touchdowns just 34 seconds apart to pull within 42-30 with 4:22 left in the game.
• Northern recovered its second consecutive onside kick, but it was ruled that Northern touched the ball before it had traveled 10 yards and the Muskies held on for the win.
• Sophomore Jordan Pettaway (Oregon/Clay) ran 15 times for 110 yards and a 51-yard touchdown.
• Junior Louie Blasiole (Mantua/Crestwood) ran 8 times for 41 yards and a score for ONU.
• Junior Sam Feldman (Springboro) completed 7-of-20 passed for 105 yards and a TD.
• Fifth-year senior Brennon Norris (Steubenville/Indian Creek) was 3-for-8 for 71 yards and had a 17-yard TD run.
• MU scored on its first two possessions to lead 14-0 midway through the first period.
• Senior Jonmichael Elliott (Richmond, Va./Clover Hill) made a 25-yard field goal with 3:49 left in the half to make it 14-3 at the 3:49 mark of the first period.
• Pettaway broke loose on his 51-yard TD run to pull ONU within 14-10 with 7:13 left in the half.
• Trailing 21-10 at intermission, ONU marched 75 yards in seven plays to open the third quarter with a 7-yard TD pass from Feldman to junior Matt McKeown (Brighton, Mich.) and it was 21-17 with 10:53 left in the third.
• MU answered with an 8-play, 75-yard TD drive and a 21-yard scoop and score to extend the lead to 35-17 with 6:32 left in the third.
• Senior All-American Dalton Tjong (Cumming, Ga.) led the Ohio Northern defense with 9 tackles.
• Muskingum was led by quarterback Garrett Gurney, who was 19-of-25 passing for 385 yards and 3 TDs, and ran 23 times for 53 yards and 2 more scores.
• The Muskies out-gained the Polar Bears in total offense 512-343.

Notables

• ONU leads the series between the two schools by a 33-26-2 margin. ONU leads the series 17-13-2 at Ada and is 7-3 all-time in Dial-Roberson Stadium.
• MU has now won 3 of the last 4 games in the series.
• Today's game was the fifth of 10 in the 130th season of football at Ohio Northern. Ohio Northern is now 561-523-36 all-time, a winning percentage of .516.
• Andy Fries is in his first season as head coach at ONU with a 3-2 record.
• Northern is now 2-1 at home this season.

Up Next

• The Polar Bears will return to action Oct. 19 with a 1:30 pm road contest at Capital.