A rewarding season for the Muhlenberg football team ended with a 49-7 loss at Mount Union in the second round of the NCAA Tournament.
Picked fifth in the Centennial Conference preseason poll, the Mules finished third, earned an at-large berth to the NCAAs, and won nine games, including a postseason victory for the eighth consecutive season.
But they met their match in the 13-time national champion Purple Raiders (11-0), who are ranked first in the NCAA Power Index and second in the two Division III polls.
Mount Union scored touchdowns on its first seven drives, building a 35-0 lead by halftime and winning its first game of the NCAA Tournament for the 33rd consecutive season.
Muhlenberg (9-3) scored its lone touchdown late in the third quarter after senior
Dante Mahaffey returned a kickoff 33 yards to near midfield. Mahaffey kept the drive alive with a 13-yard scramble on fourth-and-4, then hit senior
John Runfolo with a 25-yard completion to the 1-yard line before carrying it in on the next play.
Mahaffey finished with 92 passing yards and 40 rushing yards in addition to his long kickoff return. Senior
Matthew Manning (pictured above) rushed for 42 yards in his final game to end up with more than 1200 for his career.
Junior
Christopher Short returned four kickoffs for 110 yards, including a 50-yard return - the longest allowed by Mount Union this season.
A pair of senior safeties,
George Europe and
Marcus McClaine, led the defense with eight tackles apiece.
The senior class finished with a four-year record of 34-11 and returned the Mules to the NCAA Tournament after a three-year absence. Every Muhlenberg freshman class since 1999 has played in at least one NCAA Tournament game.
