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Nick Lamb caught 11 passes for 138 yards and three touchdowns and the defense recorded eight sacks as the Muhlenberg football team rolled past previously undefeated Gettysburg, 41-13, to win the
Old Tin Cup.
The Mules (4-2, 3-2) held the Bullets (5-1, 4-1) well below their averages of 39.0 points and 512.4 yards per game, allowing only 305 yards. Gettysburg came in leading the Centennial Conference and 10th in Division III in rushing at 301.2 yards per game but managed just 86 yards on 33 carries.
Junior linebacker
Mike Luby led the defense with 3½ sacks, while senior defensive end
Ronald Christian added 1½ and forced a fumble. Senior cornerback
Khiry Hughes made a team-leading nine tackles.
Junior
Nick Palladino completed 25 of 35 passes for 255 yards and the three touchdowns to Lamb. Sophomore
Nick Savant rushed 15 times for 75 yards and a touchdown, and sophomore
Max Cepeda also ran for a score.
Defense set the tone early, getting Muhlenberg on the scoreboard just 79 seconds into the game. On the fourth offensive play from scrimmage, sophomore linebacker
Kyle Wilczynski reached behind himself to make a one-handed interception and returned it 31 yards for a touchdown. It was the second interception return for a touchdown in as many games for Wilczynski, who became the fifth Mule (the first since 1977) to record two pick-sixes in a season.
Wilczynski, who earlier this season became the first Muhlenberg player to
score more than one two-point conversion in a game since 1967, went even further back as the first to return interceptions for touchdowns in back-to-back games since Russell Strait in 1947.
Gettysburg drove into Muhlenberg territory twice in the first quarter, but a third-down sack by Luby stalled one drive and the second ended on downs at the 20.
The Mules scored the first offensive touchdown of the game early in the second quarter, with Palladino's 11-yard pass to Lamb completing a 13-play, 80-yard drive that featured three third-down conversions and one fourth-down conversion.
The Bullets responded with a five-play, 65-yard drive, getting on the board on a 5-yard TD run. With 2:55 left in the half, Cepeda capped a 12-play drive with a 2-yard touchdown run to give Muhlenberg a 19-7 lead.
The Mules scored the first two touchdowns of the third quarter to break the game open. After an interception by junior cornerback
John Feaster ended Gettysburg's first second-half drive, Palladino covered the 33 yards on back-to-back passes to Lamb, the second for 18 yards and a touchdown.

Muhlenberg's next touchdown drive was another long one, this time going 83 yards in 14 plays. Savant carried in from 6 yards out to make it 32-7 with 3:26 left in the quarter.
After the Bullets scored their second touchdown on a 10-yard pass, the Mules drove inside the 20, but Palladino was picked off at the 1-yard line. On the next play, however, sophomore linebacker
Jake Morra tackled a ball-carrier in the end zone for a safety.
The final score, on a 20-yard pass from Palladino to Lamb, came two plays after junior
Tyler X. Smith recovered a fumbled punt
(pictured at left).
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