The John Carroll University Homecoming crowd was treated to a 24-0 victory over Muskingum this afternoon on a day for the defense which intercepted three passes and limited the Muskies to 10 yards rushing.

The JCU defense only allowed Muskingum into the red zone on one possession, and that was early in the 4^th quarter on a drive that stalled out on the JCU 20.

The Blue Streaks set the tone early in the first half which was highlighted by two interceptions by the JCU defense.  The first was by senior safety Tyler Moran who picked off his team-leading third interception on Muskingum's second possession of the game at the JCU 24-yard line.  The Muskies trailed 3-0 at the time when Moran returned the pick 70 yards all the way to the MU 6-yard line, where senior running back Ro Golphin ran it in for the TD on the first play, increasing the JCU lead to 10-0.  

The Blue Streaks opened the scoring on their first possession with a 36-yard field goal from junior kicker Matt Danko.  Danko's kick concluded a 7-play, 66-yard opening drive. 

"Matt has been a difference-maker for us in terms of field position as well as field goals and extra points; he gives us stability," Head Coach Rick Finotti pointed out. 

Golphin gained 47 yards in nine carries in the first half and finished with 114 yards and two TDs in 22 carries.  He is now 5^th on the list of JCU career rushing leaders with 2,669 yards.

"It's an amazing thing to be in the top five in career rushing yards," Golphin commented.  "It all starts with the O-line.  We are told to be patient and let the play develop," Golphin recalled.

"Whenever you need a play, Ro is right there," Finotti said.  "He has great vision and the ability to plant that foot and make a strong cut," Finotti added.

"Ro continues to keep his head down and prove himself," Offensive Coordinator Michael Switzer claimed.  "He has a fantastic outlook."

Early in the second quarter, senior linebacker Mason McKenrick intercepted MU freshman QB Brody Hahn with 10:23 to play in the second quarter.  That set up the Blue Streaks with the short 28-yard field in seven plays, capped by Golphin's 1-yard run to the right corner for his second TD of the half and a 17-0 John Carroll advantage.  The big play on the scoring drive was an 18-yard pass from sophomore QB Anthony Moeglin to senior receiver Brian Kornowski down the right sideline at the MU 12.

"It feels great," McKenrick said of his interception and six tackles.  "Our mindset was to get after it today.  We had an excellent week of practice," he added.

MU was limited to two yards rushing at halftime on nine attempts and 10 yards total on the ground in 23 attempts.  The JCU defense sacked Hahn five times and pressured him numerous other times. The Muskies could only muster 52 yards of offense in the second half as JCU ended with 283 yards in total offense to 189 for MU.   That's the fewest total yards allowed this season by the Blue Streaks.  In the last two weeks, the JCU defense has only allowed a combined 35 yards rushing.

The offense scored 24 points and nearly added more in the fourth quarter when Moeglin scampered 10 yards to the MU one-yard line where the ball was jarred loose and recovered in the end zone by the Muskies.  The offensive effort is even more impressive considering that Muskingum held Ohio Northern to 7 points last week.

Senior RB Arin Pruitt scored the final TD for the Blue Streaks on a 12-yard dash with 3:35 to play in the game on a drive that covered 80 yards in 11 plays and took 6:17 off the clock.

"When we run the ball, we're a pretty good football team,"Finotti claimed.  "I'm proud of all three of our units.  The defense put together a whole game today. The defensive line has been our most consistent unit.  Today I'm most proud of how we played together," Finotti stated.

Over the last two games vs MU, JCU has outscored the Muskies, 55-3.

JCU improves to 5-3 overall and 4-2 in the Ohio Athletic Conference.  Muskingum is now 1-7 overall and 0-7 in the OAC.