Sophomore Michael Hnatkowsky threw four touchdown passes for the second straight week and sophomore James Diggs rushed for over 100 yards in support of a defense that picked off four passes as the Muhlenberg football team posted a resounding 42-21 home win against Franklin & Marshall in a Centennial Conference showdown between undefeated teams.

The win, combined with an Ursinus loss to Johns Hopkins, left the Mules (4-0, 4-0) alone in first place in the CC.

Behind an offensive line that did not allow a sack to a Diplomat defense that came in leading Division III in fumble recoveries, Hnatkowsky tossed scoring strikes of 34 yards to sophomore Thomas Murphy, 22 yards to junior Max Kirin, 25 yards to junior Mark Riggio and 30 yards to junior Ryan Curtiss. He finished the game 17-of-28 for 271 yards and has 10 touchdowns with only one pick this season.

The Mule defense set the tone early, with junior Frankie Feaster recording sacks on two of F&M's first three plays from scrimmage. For the game, Muhlenberg allowed only 44 rushing yards, and 35 of those came in the fourth quarter with the reserves in the game.

Murphy's first career touchdown put the Mules on the board on their second possession, but the Diplomats (4-1, 3-1), who came in ranked 24th and 23rd in the two Division III polls, answered right back to tie the score at 7-7 with 5:49 left in the first quarter.

F&M started its next drive near midfield following a long punt return, only to have three straight plays go for losses on stops by sophomore Spencer Kirin, junior Frank Lucchesi and senior Luke Wiley.

Max Kirin's fourth touchdown catch of the season, with 57 seconds left in the quarter, put Muhlenberg up for good at 14-7.

Riggio's catch-and-run early in the second quarter made it 21-7. The Diplomats were driving to close to within a touchdown in the final minute of the half, but on first-and-goal from the 9, junior Mickey Kober put pressure on the F&M quarterback and forced an errant pass, which was picked off by junior Brian Raguseo in a crowd.

Spencer Kirin intercepted a pass on the Diplomats' third play from scrimmage in the second half, and three plays later Hnatkowsky connected with Curtiss to make it 28-7.

Diggs (pictured above) ran for two third-quarter touchdowns to put the game out of reach. He finished with 18 carries for 110 yards.

Freshman John Washington and senior Michael Blank also recorded interceptions. Spencer Kirin led the Mule defense with seven tackles.