The highly anticipated matchup between two nationally ranked teams and the two top football programs in the Centennial Conference since 2000 lived up to its billing, with Johns Hopkins holding off Muhlenberg 30-24 in a thrilling game that came down to the last play.

The Mules (3-1, 2-1), who entered the game ranked 24th in Division III in the AFCA poll, led 24-20 at halftime and were driving for a winning touchdown with less than a minute to go in the fourth quarter but had a tipped pass intercepted in the end zone.

Senior Nick Palladino completed 30 of 51 passes for 324 yards, setting a school record with his ninth career 300-yard game. He completed 10 passes apiece to seniors Ryan Delaney and Nick Lamb, who became the first pair of Muhlenberg teammates to reach double figures in receptions in the same game. 

Junior Nick Savant rushed 27 times for 146 yards and a pair of touchdowns - his third consecutive 100-yard game.

Junior George DiFiore was responsible for two of the Mules' four takeaways, intercepting a pass and recovering a fumble. Sophomore Nate Corvil intercepted a pass for the third game in a row - becoming the first Mule to do so since John Feaster in 2013 - and broke up two other passes in addition to blocking a field goal. Junior Amir Blair led the defense with 11 tackles and added a forced fumble and a pass breakup. Senior Michael Hogan recorded nine stops.

The game started out as an offensive shootout, with the first four possessions resulting in touchdowns. After the ninth-ranked Blue Jays (4-0, 3-0) took the opening kickoff and scored, Muhlenberg needed only six plays to answer, with Palladino throwing a perfect deep ball to Delaney (pictured above) to cover the final 37 yards. Delaney also caught a 30-yard pass on the Mules' second drive and finished the day with 153 receiving yards.

Johns Hopkins took a 14-7 lead with a six-play scoring drive of its own, but again Muhlenberg responded quickly. Savant turned a swing pass on third-and-11 into an 11-yard gain to keep the drive alive, and he ended it with a 13-yard touchdown run to make it 14-14 with 3:34 still left in the first quarter.

On the Blue Jays' first offensive play of the second quarter, senior Mike Luby forced a fumble that DiFiore recovered at the 31-yard line. Eight plays later, Savant ran the ball in from 2 yards out to give the Mules their first lead at 21-14.

Freshman Todd Spirt kicked his first career field goal from 28 yards out with 1:59 left in the half, extending the lead to 24-17, but Hopkins answered with a field goal on the final play of the half after Corvil broke up a pass in the end zone (pictured at right).

The defenses began to take over in the third quarter. The Blue Jays put up the lone points of the period when a 49-yard pass play set up a 5-yard touchdown run.

Trailing 30-24, Muhlenberg took over at its own 7-yard line with 3:48 left in the game and made a bid for a dramatic ending to Hopkins' 30-game CC winning streak. Palladino completed nine straight passes to advance the ball to the Hopkins 6. After an incomplete pass into the end zone, the next pass was tipped and picked off with 42.5 seconds left.

The Mule defense ensured one more chance, with Luby tackling the Blue Jay ball-carrier for a 5-yard loss on third-and-1. After a short punt, Muhlenberg regained possession at the Hopkins 45 with 18.4 seconds left. Two passes fell incomplete, and a Hail Mary was intercepted in the end zone on the final play.

The six-point margin matched the closest game for Johns Hopkins in its current CC winning streak. The Mules rolled up 492 yards of total offense and amassed 31 first downs.