The Muhlenberg football team used big plays to open up a four-touchdown lead and held on in the second half to win at Ursinus, 28-20.

The Mules, ranked 17th and 23rd in the two Division III polls, improved to 4-0 and avenged losses to the Bears when they were nationally ranked in both 2021 and 2022. Ursinus (3-1) had its nine-game winning streak snapped.

Junior Joe Repetti had a historic evening for Muhlenberg, becoming the first player in program history to pass for 300 yards and rush for 100 in the same game. He completed 17 of 24 passes for 313 yards and three touchdowns while rushing for a career-high 114 yards on 14 carries.

The 313 yards gave Repetti back-to-back 300-yard games for the first time in his career and moved him into the top 10 on the Mules' all-time passing list with just short of 4,000 career yards (3,946).

It was a defensive play that helped set the tone in the first half. Ursinus took the opening kickoff and moved methodically down the field. On third-and-3 from the Muhlenberg 11, graduate students Tim Higgins and Dominick Visintin combined for a sack, and the Bears missed a 35-yard field goal on the next play.

After an exchange of punts, the Mules took over at their 44 late in the first quarter and needed only three plays to put the first points on the board. The last play was a 19-yard pass from Repetti to senior James Nye, who took a shot as he caught the ball in the end zone but held on.

Muhlenberg scored touchdowns on three of its first 11 plays of the second quarter to turn the game into what appeared to be a runaway.

Repetti connected with senior Timothy Buda for a 69-yard pass play on the second snap of the quarter. After the defense forced a three-and-out, Repetti threw a short pass on third-and-2 to Nye, who broke four tackles and streaked down the sideline for a 70-yard touchdown.

Again the defense forced a punt after three plays, and after the punt it was sophomore Amari Dunn (pictured above) finishing the drive with a 30-yard touchdown run to make it 28-0 with 6:14 left in the half.

Remarkably, the Mules never scored again. The Bears threw a long touchdown pass on fourth down to put up their first points late in the half and added two touchdowns in the fourth quarter. The second came with 5:05 left to play, but junior Andrew Franklin blocked the extra point to leave the score at 28-20.

Muhlenberg ran all but 1:19 of the remaining time off, turning the ball over on downs at the Ursinus 25. The Bears drove to near midfield and got off a Hail Mary pass on the final play of the game, but it was knocked down short of the goal line.

The Mules rolled up 531 yards of total offense against the stingiest defense in the Centennial Conference through three games, with Repetti accounting for 427 alone. Buda caught three passes for a career-high 95 yards.

Visintin led the defense with 10 tackles, while senior John Lohrer recorded 9 and broke up a pair of passes. Senior Matt Papa made two tackles behind the line of scrimmage, including a sack for a 12-yard loss, and senior Owen Kovacs notched his first career interception.