For the second straight year, the Muhlenberg football team lost by a touchdown to Ursinus, falling 35-28.

The Mules (1-2, 1-1) rebounded from last year's 42-35 setback by winning their next nine games, a run that took them to the NCAA quarterfinals.

Unlike last year's seesaw game, Muhlenberg never led in this one, falling behind 14-0 in the second quarter and never catching up.

After the Bears (2-1, 1-1) scored their second touchdown, junior Christopher Ardito jump-started the Mule offense with a 43-yard kickoff return to near midfield. Muhlenberg needed only four plays to reach the end zone - actually, two, since the first two were incomplete passes. On third-and-10, sophomore Joe Repetti connected with senior Michael Feaster for a 48-yard catch and run, and Repetti carried in himself from 4 yards out on the next play.

Ursinus scored in the final minute of the half to take a 21-7 lead into the locker room.

A 64-yard punt by senior Kevin Olifiers early in the second half, and an ensuing three-and-out by the Mule defense, set up the offense with a short field, and a 3-yard run by senior Seth Paluck capped a five-play drive that made it 21-14 with less than five minutes elapsed in the second half. 

Another three-and-out by the defense gave Muhlenberg a chance to tie, but a sack-fumble turned the ball back to the Bears, and they scored with 4:46 left in the third to extend their lead to 28-14.

Repetti hit Feaster from 37 yards out to cut the gap to seven again late in the third quarter, but Ursinus responded with a touchdown of its own.

The score remained 35-21 until Repetti capped a hurry-up 75-yard drive with his second TD run of the game, from 9 yards out, with 1:19 to play.

The Bears recovered the ensuing onside kick, then converted on third down from near midfield to ice the win.

Feaster finished with five catches for 135 yards for his seventh career 100-yard game. Ardito (pictured above) added a 40-yard kickoff return later in the game and finished with 142 all-purpose yards.

Senior Owen Daddona had a massive day on defense, recording a career-high 16 tackles, including 2.0 for loss. Seniors Dominick Visintin (12), John Lohrer (11) and Tyler Ekstrom (10) also reached double figures in tackles for a defense that was on the field more than 39 minutes. Sophomore Andrew Franklin recorded 2½ tackles for loss.