After sophomore Jeremy Duncan raced to the end zone with his school record 327th receiving yard, the Wilmington Quakers led 28-7, and things were looking bright on Homecoming. However, Muskingum scored 28 unanswered points to claim the 35-28 overtime victory Saturday in Ohio Athletic Conference action at Williams Stadium.
Duncan, fresh off a career-high 204-yard effort last week, crushed that output with eight catches for 327 yards and three touchdowns. He had touchdown receptions of 59, 80 and 85 yards, respectively. He broke the single-game record of 275 yards, set by Derron Calvert in 1986. Duncan has now eclipsed his team-high 424 yards from last season with 689 yards this season.
Most of Duncan's yards came in the first half as the Muskies limited him to one catch for 85 yards in the second half. Despite being held to one reception in the final 30 minutes, the 6-5 sophomore still accounted for more than 88 percent of Wilmington receiving yards.
"When he has 90 percent of our receiving yards, that's a problem," said head coach Stacey Hairston. "It's going to be a key for us to get someone else going. Teams are going to start doubling him, and trying to take him away."
A running game, which was missing leading rusher Zak Kruer, never got on track rushing for just 31 yards on 27 attempts.
Despite being one dimensional, Wilmington led nearly the entire game as Muskingum scored the equalizer with 43 seconds remaining in the fourth quarter, and then scored the winning touchdown on their first possession in overtime.
"It's the same problem we have had all season long," said Hairston. "When you take over a team that is not used to winning, they don't know how to win. We had a great opportunity today. We have to get better as coaches, offensively, defensively and on special teams. You have to take your hat off to Muskingum, they didn't quit."
Quarterback Brandon Arehart finished the game 15-of-35 for 369 yards, four touchdowns and one interception. Senior Kyle Akers hauled in the other touchdown pass, an eight-yard strike in the second quarter.
Defensively, sophomore Tarrell Starckey finished with a career-high 19 tackles, one for loss and two pass breakups. Senior Aaron Day, added 11 tackles, while junior Joe Joe Knecht registered 10 tackles for the Fightin' Quakers.
Wilmington (0-4 overall, 0-3 OAC) travels to top-ranked Mount Union Saturday for OAC action.
