GETTYSBURG, Pa. – Muhlenberg College scored the game's first points on an acrobatic interception and never looked back, ending Gettysburg College's perfect start to the season with a 41-13 decision at Shirk Field at Musselman Stadium.
For the second time in the past four seasons, Muhlenberg (4-2, 3-2 CC) gave Gettysburg (5-1, 4-1 CC) its first loss. The Mules held the Centennial Conference's best rushing team to a season-low 86 yards on the ground and posted eight sacks and 11 tackles for a loss.
Senior Sam McDermott (Newtown, Pa./Notre Dame (N.J.)) finished 24-of-45 for 219 yards, two interceptions, and one touchdown. Junior Jordan Kelso (Cookstown, N.J./Bordentown Regional) hauled in seven receptions for 66 yards, while senior Kyle Wigley (Medford, N.J./Shawnee) carried the ball 11 times for 38 yards and a touchdown. Senior Kodie McNamara (Manasquan, N.J./Manasquan) paced the Bullets' defense with a dozen tackles and an interception.
Junior quarterback Nick Palladino led the Mules with 255 yards and three touchdowns. Eleven of his 25 completions found the arms of senior Nick Lamb, who finished with 138 yards and three touchdowns. Sophomore Nick Savant picked up 75 yards and a touchdown on 15 carries. Junior linebacker Mike Luby had a hand in 3.5 sacks and seven tackles for Muhlenberg.
On Gettysburg's first drive of the game, Kyle Wilczynski made an incredible leaping, one-handed grab of a pass by McDermott and returned it 33 yards for the opening score. Twice the Bullets drove into Muhlenberg territory in the first quarter, but to no avail as the score remained 7-0 at the end of the period.
The Mules opened the second with Palladino finding Lamb for an 11-yard TD catch. The visitors opted for two points and came up empty.
On Gettysburg's ensuing drive, a face mask penalty set the hosts on the 50-yard line. A pair of passes to Kelso and a pair of rushes by McDermott brought the team to the five-yard line, where Wigley carried the ball from for his sixth touchdown of the season.
Cepeda boosted the Muhlenberg lead to 19-7 with a two-yard carry into the end zone later in the quarter. The Mules drove into Bullet territory in the final two minutes, but Palladino's pass was broken up by sophomore Kamau Bridges (Ellicott City, Md./Mount Saint Joseph) and junior John Gutowski (Long Valley, N.J./West Morris Central) snagged the ball out of the air just before it hit the ground for the interception. Gettysburg was unable to convert the turnover, however, as McDermott was sacked and stripped of the ball by Ronald Christian on fourth down with a few seconds left.
Muhlenberg upped its advantage to 32-7 with another receiving touchdown by Lamb followed by a six-yard run by Nick Savant in the third quarter. The hosts jumped back into the scoring column with a 10-play, 73-yard drive capped by a 10-yard pass from McDermott to senior Travis Andrews (Phoenixville, Pa./Phoenixville) to put the score at 32-13 at the end of three quarters.
Gettysburg stopped a red zone attempt by the visitors to start the third quarter as McNamara picked off a pass in front of the goal line. Backed against their own end zone, the Bullets were unable to get out with Jake Morra tackling freshman Matt McFadden (Morristown, N.J./Morristown Beard) for the safety.
After forcing the Mules to go three-and-out, the punt by Matt Aspinwall hit a Gettysburg player and was recovered by Muhlenberg. The visitor's wrapped up the scoring in two plays as Lamb secured his third touchdown with 9:27 remaining.
Gettysburg was held to a season-low 305 total yards, while Muhlenberg finished with 394. The Mules led in time of possession 35:54-24:06.
Junior Chris Miller (Manasquan, N.J./Manasquan) posted nine tackles and 1.5 tackles for a loss for Gettysburg. Senior Brian Calatozzo (Sewell, N.J./St. Augustine Prep) added eight stops and 1.5 tackles for a loss.
Khiry Hughes logged nine stops for Muhlenberg, while John Feaster came up with eight tackles and an interception.
Gettysburg hosts No. 9 Johns Hopkins University (6-0, 5-0 CC) next Saturday at 1 p.m.