Football Rolls Past Dickinson
The Muhlenberg football team played its most complete game of the year, rolling to a 49-20 home win against Dickinson.
The win was the third in a row for the Mules (5-2, 3-1) heading into next week's game at Johns Hopkins, which emerged as the lone undefeated team in the Centennial Conference by knocking off Ursinus, 16-7.
Senior captains Joe Repetti and Owen Kovacs combined for five of the seven touchdowns. Repetti completed 17 of 21 passes for 234 yards and three touchdowns, all to junior John Runfolo, while also running for a score. Kovacs returned an interception 75 yards for his first career touchdown.
The pick-six by Kovacs extended Muhlenberg's lead to 42-7 with 7:44 left in the third quarter. To that point, the Mules had allowed only 177 total yards, ending three of the seven Red Devil drives with interceptions.
In addition to Kovacs, junior Peyton Elliott and freshman Thomas Cerruti also recorded picks. Cerruti led Muhlenberg with 8 tackles, while Kovacs added 6.
Juniors Amari Dunn and Matthew Manning added rushing touchdowns. Dunn finished with 114 yards on only 19 carries for his second 100-yard game.
After forcing a punt on the opening drive of the game, the Mules took their first lead with a nine-play, 70-yard drive on their first possession. The key play was a 35-yard completion to the 10 on which senior Christopher Ardito wrestled the ball away from a Dickinson defensive back.
The Red Devils (4-3, 1-2) were driving early in the second quarter when the defense came up with a fourth-down stop, with senior Jackson Armstrong forcing the quarterback out of the pocket and junior Blaze Curry running him out of bounds.
Six plays later, Repetti ran in from 4 yards out for his 23rd career rushing touchdown - one short of the school record for a quarterback.
Manning's 3-yard scoring run on the first play after the two-minute timeout made it 21-7, and three plays later Cerruti notched his first career interception. Muhlenberg took over at its own 38 with 1:14 on the clock and needed a little more than a minute to reach the end zone, with Repetti finding Runfolo from 11 yards out.
Runfolo's third TD catch, from 18 yards out, capped a six-play, 61-yard drive to open the second half. Runfolo, who came into the game without a touchdown reception in his career, is the 12th different player in program history to catch three TD passes in a game.
Senior Connor Fenstermaker was a perfect 6-for-6 on extra points, and sophomore Nicholas D'Amico scored his first career point by converting the PAT following Dunn's 27-yard touchdown run in the fourth quarter.
pictured above: Brothers Matt Papa (99) and Joseph Papa (48) team up on a tackle early in the second quarter. They and third brother Joseph Papa combined for 11 stops.
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