The Muhlenberg football team led briefly in the first quarter but could not keep up with the Mary Hardin-Baylor offense and lost, 62-13, in its season opener.

The Crusaders, who won last year's Division III championship game by a score of 57-24, scored a touchdown on their first offensive play and wound up scoring on nine of their first 10 possessions. The 63 points were the most allowed by the Mules since 1996.

Offensively, Muhlenberg scored two first-half touchdowns against a Crusader defense that allowed seven points or fewer in nine of its 15 games last season.

Sophomore Joe Repetti, making his first career start, threw for 153 yards and a pair of touchdowns. Junior Aaron Daniels led the rushing attack with a career 40 yards on eight carries. 

Junior Pelton Esannason caught four passes, the first of his career, for 50 yards. Senior Thomas Jenkins also hauled in four balls and completed a 46-yard pass on a trick play.

Muhlenberg went three-and-out on the opening drive of the game, and following the punt, Mary Hardin-Baylor threw a 54-yard touchdown pass. Junior Matt Papa blocked the extra point, however, to keep the score 6-0. It was the third career blocked kick for Papa. 

The Mules responded with a nine-play, 64-yard drive that started with junior Christopher Ardito returning a kickoff 26 yards and ended with Ardito catching a 1-yard pass in the end zone for his first career touchdown. Repetti's 15-yard scramble on third-and-8 helped keep the drive alive. 

Junior Nick Stannard added the extra point to give Muhlenberg a 7-6 lead. 

The Crusaders added two more touchdowns, one after a blocked punt, before the quarter ended to open up a 20-7 advantage. 

Muhlenberg stopped the Crusaders on fourth down at the 1-yard line early in the second quarter, and a 53-yard punt by senior Kevin Olifiers flipped field position. But again UMHB made a big play, this time scoring on a 46-yard TD pass on third down.

The Mules answered with a longest drive of the game, an 11-play, 90-yard march that featured three runs by Daniels (pictured above) for 23 yards. Repetti completed the final two passes of the drive to senior James Nye, the second for a 10-yard touchdown.

That made the score 27-13, but the Crusaders put the game out of reach by scoring two touchdowns in the final three minutes of the first half. They added three more scores in the third quarter while keeping Muhlenberg off the board for the entire second half.

Senior John Lohrer led the Mules defense with 8 tackles.