The Muhlenberg football team moved into a three-way tie for first place in the Centennial Conference with a 27-10 win at Franklin & Marshall.

The win, combined with Johns Hopkins' 38-17 defeat of Susquehanna, left the three teams all knotted at 6-1 atop the CC standings. The Mules travel to Susquehanna next week for a showdown that will go a long way to determining the CC champion.

Muhlenberg scored off a blocked punt for the second time in three weeks, senior Michael Hnatkowsky threw three touchdown passes, and the defense held an opponent under 200 yards (194) for the second straight week.

Senior Joshua Barnett led the defense with a career-high 15 tackles, while senior Spencer Kirin recorded 12 in addition to recording his fourth blocked kick of the season, his third blocked punt.

The momentum-shifting play came early in the second quarter with the Mules leading 7-3. Junior Tim Higgins picked up the ball and ran 31 yards into the end zone for his first career touchdown, extending the lead to 14-3.

Four minutes later, Hnatkowsky connected with junior Thomas Jenkins from 27 yards out to make it 20-3.

The Diplomats (3-5, 3-4) scored their lone touchdown on a long fourth-down pass in the final minute of the half but were completely shut down in the final 30 minutes. Muhlenberg's defense allowed only one first down in the second half, and that came on the second-to-last play of the game.

The Mules dominated possession and field position in the second half, adding to their lead early in the fourth quarter when senior Michael Feaster took a pass from Hnatkowsky and bulled his way into the end zone from 15 yards out three plays after an interception by junior John Lohrer.

Hnatkowsky also threw a TD pass to junior James Nye and finished 20 of 26 for 225 yards. He also was Muhlenberg's leading rusher with 31 yards on the ground.

Feaster (pictured above) caught eight passes for 112 yards – his fourth 100-yard game of the season.