The Muhlenberg football team clinched its third straight Centennial Conference championship and an NCAA Tournament berth with a resounding 55-0 shutout of Moravian.

The Mules (9-1, 8-1) tied Johns Hopkins for the title and will begin NCAA Tournament play next Saturday, November 20. Pairings and sites will be announced Sunday at 5:30 on ncaa.com.

Muhlenberg outgained Moravian (3-7, 3-6) by a 505-117 margin in posting the largest margin of victory in the history of the rivalry. The Mules have defeated their Lehigh Valley foes 10 straight times, the last three by a combined score of 160-14.

For the third straight time, senior Michael Hnatkowsky won the Bianco Award as the Mules' game MVP. He completed 17 of 25 passes for 208 yards and five touchdowns while adding a rushing TD. Hnatkowsky tied a school record for the third time with the six total touchdowns, and he moved into a tie for sixth place on the all-time Division III list with 135 career passing touchdowns.

Senior Thomas Murphy caught a pair of touchdown passes, while senior Mitch Daniel and juniors Thomas Jenkins and James Nye each caught one for the Mules, who had 10 possessions and never punted.

Although he didn't catch a TD pass, senior Michael Feaster broke the school record for receptions in a season. He caught five balls to end the day with 81, eclipsing the former mark of 77.

After Hnatkowsky threw his fifth touchdown pass early in the third quarter, the Mules turned to their running game, resulting in more noteworthy accomplishments:

• Senior Rory DeLuca recorded his first career 100-yard game, rushing 15 times for 129 yards. He gained 91 yards in the second half alone, including a 47-yard burst.

• Senior Mike Cenname scored his first career touchdown on a 1-yard run early in the fourth quarter and finished with 48 yards on seven carries.

• Junior Tim Higgins recorded his first career offensive touchdown (he scored one on special teams two weeks ago) on a 2-yard run midway through the fourth quarter to cap the scoring.

The defense allowed only 23 yards (18 of which came on one play) on 12 passing attempts in pitching its third shutout of the season. Moravian converted only one of 10 third-down tries and recorded just five first downs (compared to 30 for the Mules).

Muhlenberg preserved the shutout with a goal-line stand following a long Greyhound drive of nearly nine minutes in the third quarter. On fourth-and-goal from the 1, senior Owen Daddona swooped in to tackle the Moravian running back behind the line of scrimmage.

Senior John Washington led the defense with seven tackles, and senior Steve Sanders recorded his third interception of the season to set up Muhlenberg's first touchdown.