Muskies end season on strong note

The Muskie football team pulled out a win on Saturday against Heidelberg 31 to 28. This was the last game of the season for the Muskies and the win clenched them the fifth place ranking in the OAC with a final record of 4-6. This was the best team ranking for the Muskies since the 2003 season.

Heidelberg struck first by scoring in the first quarter. The Muskies answered with a quarter back keeper by junior Jake Burns. The Muskies scored again in the second quarter with another keeper by Burns. Senior kicker Bill Rini came into the game to make a 27 yard field goal, leaving the score at 17 to 7 at halftime.

“It feels good to go out with a win,” said senior Terry Holbert. “I feel like we have made a great impact on the Muskingum football program this year.”

Heidelberg came out ready after halftime by scoring with a 49 yard touchdown pass on their first possession to cut the lead to 17 to 14 for the Muskies. The Muskies answered with a 79 yard touchdown pass to senior Dwight Sutton to make the score 24 to 14. The pass by Burns was his 14th touchdown pass of the season, which broke the school record of 13 which he set last year.

“I feel that our focus in practice this past week really helped us execute in this game on both sides of the ball,” said Burns. “This was a huge win for us.”

Heidelberg scored again with just over seven minutes to play in the game to make the score 24 to 21. The Muskies again answered with a 60 yard drive ending in a 15 yard touchdown by Burns. Rini added the extra point kick to make the score 31 to 21. With just 28 seconds remaining in the game, Heidelberg scored on a 12 yard touchdown pass. The Muskies took over possession of the ball to conclude the game with a final score of 31 to 28.

The Defense for the Muskies was led by both Alex Thomas and Dennis Hicks. They each had 10 tackles for the day. Sophomore James Beatty also added eight tackles for the Muskies.

This game was the last for the Muskie seniors Steve Emmert, O.J. Diomedi, Cory Swinderman, Dwight Sutton, Rick Wagner, Bill Rini, Cody Carlson, and Terry Holbert.

“It felt great to end the season with a positive note, especially for our seniors,” said Burns. “The entire team worked hard this season and we are looking forward to improving even more for next year.”