After falling behind by three touchdowns in the first quarter, the Muhlenberg football team nearly came all the way back but wound up falling, 47-26, in a showdown between nationally ranked teams.

The Blue Jays (8-0, 5-0), an NCAA Division III semifinalist last season, have been ranked No. 3 all season. The Mules (6-2, 3-2) came in ranked 24th by D3football.com and 25th by the American Football Coaches Association.

The loss spoiled a historic effort by sophomore Luke Spang, who in his first career start became the first player in program history to rush for a touchdown, throw a touchdown, and catch a touchdown pass in the same game.

Muhlenberg forced a three-and-out on the first possession of the game, but an interception by Hopkins three plays after the punt turned the momentum toward the visitors. Three straight touchdown drives made it 20-0 before the Mules got on the board on a 17-yard touchdown run by Spang early in the second quarter.

The Blue Jays responded with a long touchdown drive that took more than eight minutes off the clock, but Muhlenberg battled back with two touchdowns in the final minute of the half.

The first touchdown capped a 60-yard drive and came on the Mules' version of the "Philly special," with Spang handing off to senior Dante Mahaffey, who flipped the ball to sophomore wide receiver Logan Nordeck coming around on a reverse. Nordeck pulled up and passed to Spang in the end zone for a 2-yard touchdown with 50 seconds on the clock.

On the second play after the kickoff, senior Blaze Curry forced the Hopkins quarterback to fumble. Senior Alex Schafer recovered the ball at the 34, but with just 15 seconds remaining.

Spang's long pass to freshman Caleb Pasols advanced the ball to the 2, however, and on the next play junior Isaac Schaffer-Neitz scampered in with just four ticks on the clock to make it 27-19.

The teams traded touchdowns in the third quarter, with Spang hitting senior John Runfolo from 14 yards out on fourth-and-9 to again bring Muhlenberg within eight at 34-26.

Schafer teamed with sophomore Ethan Kalinauskas for a third-down sack that derailed the next Blue Jay drive, and the Mules took over at their own 36 with 14:07 remaining. They drove to the Hopkins 39 before a fourth-down pass was tipped at the line of scrimmage.

Johns Hopkins took over from there with its ground game, rushing 13 straight times on two touchdown drives that put the game away.

Spang, attempting to engineer a comeback win against a nationally ranked team for the second week in a row, threw for a career-high 236 yards and also rushed for 37. Runfolo caught six passes for 52 yards.

Senior Marcus McClaine led the defense with eight tackles and also broke up a pass (pictured above). Curry recorded a career-high seven tackles.

On special teams, freshman Sam Morris punted three times for an average of 48.0 yards, including a career-best 64-yarder. Sophomore Chris Holland tied a school record by blocking two extra points against a Blue Jay kicker who hadn't missed a kick all season.