Two long pass plays in the first half and two long returns in the fourth quarter highlighted a 26-18 win for the Muhlenberg football team at Wilkes.

The win sends the Mules into their bye week with a record of 3-0 and only Centennial Conference games remaining on the schedule. It's the second time in the last three years that they've started 3-0, and also the first time in the 2000s that they haven't committed a turnover in their first three games. 

Senior Dante Mahaffey was 8-of-12 passing for 198 yards and a pair of touchdowns. His first scoring strike was a career-long 63-yard pass to senior John Runfolo to open the scoring with 4:18 left in the first quarter. 

That career mark lasted little more than a quarter. After a Wilkes field goal and an 8-yard touchdown run by sophomore Luke Spang, Mahaffey teamed up with freshman Caleb Pasols for a 78-yard pass play late in the first half, extending Muhlenberg's lead to 20-3.

The reception by Pasols was the longest by a Mule freshman since 1985. Pasols finished with four catches for 114 yards, notching the first 100-yard receiving game by a freshman since 2006.

Runfolo (5-112) also topped the 100-yard mark for the first time in his career, giving Muhlenberg two 100-yard receivers in a regulation game for the first time since 2021.

The score was 20-10 early in the fourth quarter when the Mule defense, which allowed only one conversion on 16 third-down tries, forced a Wilkes punt. Junior Tommy Donnelly returned the punt 55 yards to the Colonel 14. Four plays later, senior Matthew Manning ran in from a yard out to make it 26-10. Manning (pictured above) has scored a touchdown in every game this season.

Wilkes (1-2) scored on its ensuing drive and succeeded on a two-point try, making it a one-possession game with 4:47 left. The Colonels elected to kick deep, and junior Christopher Short returned the kickoff 44 yards to near midfield. 

The Mules ran off the remaining time, converting two third downs to keep the clock running.

Muhlenberg held Wilkes to 50 rushing yards and allowed only two plays of more than 20 yards. Junior Jeffrey Lopez led a balanced defense with 7 tackles, while seniors George Europe and Peyton Elliott and sophomore Thomas Cerruti added 6 apiece.