Muskingum prepares for third straight road test

NEW CONCORD, Ohio – For the third straight week the Muskie football team will be on the road and will be looking to pick up a league win.

The Muskies (1-2, 0-2) will head down to the Ohio River to take on long time rival Marietta (1-1, 0-1). After winning their season opener, the Muskies have dropped back to back conference game, falling to Otterbein and Captial.

The magenta and black will look to get back in the win column this Saturday.

“I think they’re pretty good. They’re sound and they play hard. Coach (Andy) Waddle and his staff has done a great job of getting those guys ready to play and they’ll be ready to play us,” said Muskie head coach Al Logan.

The Pioneers, who finished 3-7 last year, won their season opener 26-25 over Geneva. They rallied from a 13 point fourth quarter deficit to beat the Golden Tornadoes in that game. Then after a bye week they lost to second ranked Mt. Union 69-3.

The Pioneer offense is paced by senior running back Roger Walker, a Florida native. He rushed for just under 1,300 yards and 13 touchdowns in 2016.

“They’re tailback is a good player (Walker). He was a preseason all-American. They’re quarterback is a very dynamic. Offensively they have a lot of kids coming back and defensively, up front, we think they’re pretty decent,” said Logan.

Muskingum has faced no opponent more times in team history then the Pioneers. Saturday will be the 96th all time meeting between the two. They first met in 1897 and Muskingum holds the series advantage 52-41-2.

The game kicks at 1:30 p.m. from Don Drumm Stadium.