Muhlenberg College Athletics

The Muhlenberg football team took control of its season-opening game at Moravian in Short order.

Senior Christopher Short returned the opening kickoff 92 yards for a touchdown, and the Mules never looked back in defeating their Lehigh Valley rivals, 34-7, to keep possession of the Sodexo Trophy. It was the 15th straight win for Muhlenberg against Moravian.

Sophomore Leo Dauberman won the Bianco Award as the Mules' game MVP after picking off two passes for a defense that allowed only 270 yards and a touchdown.

Short became only the second player in program history to return more than two kickoffs for touchdowns, joining Hall-of-Famer Joshua Carter '02. The last time Muhlenberg played at Moravian, he brought the opening kickoff of the second half back for a TD. This time around, he became the third Mule in the last 40 years to open the season with a kickoff return touchdown, following Carter against Merchant Marine in 1999 and Brandon Doyle '09 against TCNJ in 2006. 

On Moravian's first offensive series, sophomore Jayden Tobias forced an intentional grounding on third down, and Muhlenberg needed only three plays after the punt to score its second touchdown. Senior Tommy Donnelly lived up to his initials on third down, taking a deep pass from junior Luke Spang around midfield and running the rest of the way to complete a 73-yard TD. 

The Greyhounds threatened to cut into the lead on their next drive, putting together a 20-play drive that took more than 11 minutes, but junior Chris Holland blocked a field goal try to keep the score 13-0.

Senior Amari Dunn rushed 4 yards for a touchdown to end the next drive, which was kept alive when Donnelly caught a 24-yard pass from Spang on third-and-13. Dunn finished with an even 100 yards on 20 carries, recording his fourth career 100-yard game.

Dauberman's first interception, on the second play of the next drive, set up the offense on the Greyhound 11, and three plays later sophomore Caleb Pasols caught a 5-yard touchdown from Spang to make it 27-0.

Dauberman added his second pick three plays later, recording two interceptions for the second time in his last three games.

A 6-yard touchdown run by graduate student Isaac Schaffer-Neitz capped the Mules' first drive of the second half and their scoring for the day. Muhlenberg polished off the win with an 18-play drive that took the final 10:42 off the clock, with Dunn rushing for 54 yards, junior JR Walley converting a fourth-and-9 with a 13-yard rush, and Spang taking a knee at the Moravian 4 on the final play of the game.

Spang finished 16-of-25 for 184 yards and two touchdowns without throwing an interception. Pasols and graduate student Aidan Mack each caught 5 passes.

Juniors Ben Girard and Jake Saus led the defense with 8 tackles apiece, while junior Thomas Cerruti notched a pair of tackles for loss.