Muhlenberg Topples Juniata with Big Third Quarter

The Muhlenberg football team scored 21 points in the third quarter and went on to defeat Juniata, 35-14, for its second straight win.

Quarterback Dan Deighan rushed for 105 yards on only 11 carries and also threw for 176 yards and two touchdowns for the Mules (5-2, 4-2). Terrence Dandridge scored a pair of touchdowns on the ground, and Kevin Van Laar rushed for a career-high 71 yards and a score.

Ward Udinski threw for 209 yards and scored both of Juniata's touchdowns on 1-yard sneaks. They were the first offensive scores for the Eagles (1-6, 0-6) against the Mules since they joined the Centennial Conference in 2007.

Dandridge's first touchdown, on a dive over the pile from the 1-yard line, capped a 59-yard drive and gave Muhlenberg a 7-0 lead with 5:32 left in the first quarter. Muhlenberg doubled its lead late in the half when Deighan hit Isaiah Vaughn in the back of the end zone from 31 yards out on third-and-17.

Juniata took advantage of a shanked punt that gave it possession inside the 50 to score its first touchdown with 24 seconds left in the half. Domonic Bornman caught passes of 11 yards on third-and-4 and 13 yards to the 1 on the drive.

Muhlenberg punted in its first third-quarter possession but scored on the next three. Deighan's apparent 47-yard touchdown run was negated by an illegal block penalty at the 5, but the Mules scored anyway on Van Laar's 1-yard run four plays later to make it 21-7.

Tim Vogel's 52-yard interception return set up the second score of the quarter, a 5-yard run by Dandridge, and Deighan's 5-yard touchdown pass to John Merklinger followed a Matt Johnson pick.

Johnson and Kory Crichton each recorded eight tackles for a defense that held Juniata to 46 rushing yards.

Julian Valdiserri caught eight passes for 99 yards for Juniata.