Playing in front a large Family Weekend crowd, the Muhlenberg football team did what all good families do: its members leaned on each other for support.
The defense bailed out the offense with a couple of stops after turnovers, the special teams blocked two kicks, one after the defense gave up a long drive, and the offense made sure that any other family shortcomings would be insignificant, rolling up 513 yards in a 42-13 win against Juniata.
Sophomore Nick Palladino threw for a career-high 373 yards, the fifth-highest total in team history, and three touchdowns. Max Cepeda rushed 13 times for 116 yards and a pair of touchdowns, tying the Centennial Conference record of five 100-yard games by a freshman. Senior Cody Geyer caught five passes for 151 yards and totaled 215 all-purpose yards.
Although Juniata's quarterback, who will be the first player in CC history to lead his team in passing and rushing all four years, threw for 267 yards, 149 of them came in the fourth quarter, long after the game was decided, and he rushed for only 23 yards on 14 carries.
"He's a great player and the focal point of their offense," said senior safety Chris Flynn. "Early in the game they tried running with him, and the guys up front were really stuffing him. Then they had to start passing. We took him out early and that really carried through the whole game."
After a Juniata punt was downed at the 9-yard line following the first series, Palladino's first pass was tipped and picked off at the Muhlenberg 16, snapping his NCAA-best streak of 195 passes without an interception this year. Palladino (pictured right) recovered nicely, completing 23 of his next 26 passes, and the defense kept the Eagles (3-4, 2-4) off the scoreboard by stuffing runs on third-and-1 and fourth-and-1.
Muhlenberg (6-1, 5-1) responded with the first of its two drives of 90 yards or longer, going 93 yards in 10 plays for the first touchdown of the game. Palladino found Geyer for 21 yards on third-and-9, and Cepeda sprinted 44 yards down the left sideline for the score.
The Mules needed only four plays to double their lead with a 75-yard drive that ended with a fingertip catch of Palladino's 24-yard pass in the end zone by junior Nick Lamb on the second play of the second quarter.
The Eagles came up empty on another trip deep into Muhlenberg territory late in the second quarter when senior Michael Long blocked a 42-yard field goal try following a 14-play, 69-yard drive. Eleven plays and 75 yards later, Palladino hit sophomore Ryan Delaney with a 7-yard TD pass to make it 21-0 with 35.5 seconds left in the half.
Palladino's 5-yard touchdown run capped a 73-yard drive on the first possession of the second half. Juniata drove into Muhlenberg territory again on the ensuing drive, but Flynn made a tackle short of the first down on a completed fourth-down pass.
Muhlenberg was driving again before a bad snap resulted in a 42-yard loss and a lost fumble. The Eagles took over at the 27 and advanced to the 5 before Flynn batted down a fourth-down slant.
"Down in the red zone you have to step up and make a big play," said Flynn. "We had a few big fourth-down stops in the game. Those hurt the offense and give us momentum."
The offense used the momentum and moved 90 plays in 17 yards to extend the lead to 35-0. Long, who recorded his 100th career reception earlier in the game, caught a 6-yard TD pass early in the fourth quarter.
A 4-yard run by Cepeda (pictured left) – his 10th touchdown of the season – following Geyer's 77-yard catch-and-run rounded out the scoring in the fourth.
Senior Jeremey Thomas made a team-high nine tackles, while senior Greg DeLade and junior Kyle Ruiz each recorded a sack and another tackle for loss.
Delaney and Long each caught six passes for an offense that has racked up 912 yards and 89 points in the last two weeks.
"We know how good this offense can be – we get to see it in practice every day," said Flynn. "We have a bunch of guys who are explosive and can make a big play at any time. As the season is progressing we've been firing on all cylinders."
