#2 Mount Union Blanks Muskingum 57-0
ALLIANCE, Ohio -- No. 2 ranked Mount Union generated 619 yards of offense while its defense held Muskingum to 59 total yards in a 57-0 shutout Saturday night at Mount Union Stadium.
It was the home and Ohio Athletic Conference opener for the Purple Raiders who move to 2-0 overall (1-0 OAC) while posting their 65th straight regular-season victory.
Sophomore quarterback Kevin Burke (Westlake/Lakewood St. Edward) accounted for six of the Raiders eight touchdowns as he threw four of them while going 12-of-17 passing for 258 yards then rushed for two others as he had four rushes for 17 yards.
Burke's first pass of the day was the longest of his college career to date as he hurled a ball 54 yards to senior wide receiver Jasper Collins (Geneva, N.Y./Geneva). Collins ended up with another touchdown catch in the first quarter as he posted the 7th 100-yard recieving game of his career as he had a game-high five catches for 118 yards.
Senior running back T.J. Lattimore (Maple Heights/Maple Heights) also had a big play with a 72-yard run as part of a nine-carry, 106 yard performance.
Sophomore Drew Prendergast (Minerva/Minerva) also rushed for a score as Mount Union rolled up 276 rushing yards on 41 carries.
The Raider defense shut down the Muskies as they knocked out starting quarterback Alex Meredith in the first half and for the game held Muskingum to just three first downs, 31 yards rushing and 28 yards passing.
Senior safety Nick Driskill (Wabash, Ind./Southwood) had a team-high six stops while linebacker Charles Dieuseul (Winter Haven, Fla./Lake Region) had five tackles and forced a fumble on a sack to lead the unit.
Burke hit Collins on 54 and 9-yard throws to give Mount Union a 14-0 lead at the end of the first quarter.
Senior Tyler Almeida (Elyria/Elyria) hit a 30-yard field goal early in the second quarter before Burke hit junior Sherman Wilkinson (Kettering/Fairmont) on a 12-yard TD pass and senior Blair Skilliter (Curtice/Genoa) on a 32-yard strike then ran five yards for a score to extend the lead to 38-0 at the half.
Burke taked on another rushing score from three yards as he raced the Raiders down the field in their first possession of the second half as they covered 74 yards in three plays, one being the 72-yard Lattimore run.
Senior Julius Moore (Lakeland, Fla./Kathleen Senior) caught a 22-yard touchdown pass from backup quarterback Roman Namdar (Southlake, Texas/Carroll) as it was 50-0 at the end of the third quarter.
Prendergast finished the scoring with a one-yard touchdown run in the fourth quarter for the 57-0 final.
Mount Union goes back on the road playing next Saturday at Marietta College with kickoff slated for 6pm from Don Drumm Stadium in Marietta.
