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Duke would've been proud.
Three days after learning of the passing of their head coach, Mike "Duke" Donnelly, of complications from leukemia, the Muhlenberg College football team combined many of the elements that made him the most successful coach in program history – a crucial defensive stop, a key special teams play, and a player stepping up – to earn a 21-14 win against previously undefeated Ursinus.
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Senior Matthew Stickney, called on to fill in when Centennial Conference leading rusher Nick Savant went down with an injury on the Mules' third play from scrimmage, rushed for a career-high 118 yards on 23 carries. Freshman quarterback Michael Hnatkowsky ran for a career-best 63 yards and two touchdowns.
Sophomore linebacker Mickey Kober recorded 11 tackles for a defense that held the Bears (5-1, 4-1), who came in 24th in Division III with 240.2 rushing yards per game, to 132 yards on the ground.
Junior Nate Corvil recovered a fumbled punt in the end zone for his third non-offensive touchdown of the season. Sophomore Joseph O'Hagan averaged 39.9 yards on eight punts, downing five of them inside the 20, and made the game-clinching interception with 23 seconds left.
After observing a moment of silence in honor of Donnelly before the game, the Mules (4-2, 3-2) forced an Ursinus punt and scored on their first possession. Runs of 16, 21 and 13 yards by Hnatkowsky put the ball at the 1-yard line, and he sneaked in from there.
Early in the second quarter, a Muhlenberg drive stalled at the 40-yard line. O'Hagan's low punt took a high bounce at the 25-yard line, where Jonathan Gerhartz tried to field it. The ball went off his hand and rolled into the end zone, where Corvil pounced on it to extend the Mules' lead to 14-0.
Ursinus got the seven points back just five plays later when quarterback Thomas Garlick, the reigning CC player of the week, turned a scramble into a 50-yard touchdown run. Garlick finished the game with 79 yards rushing and 182 yards passing.
The score remained 14-7 until late in the third quarter, when Hnatkowsky's 3-yard run capped a five-play, 17-yard drive that was set up by freshman Brad Ramriez' 33-yard punt return.
Stacey Gardner scored on a 11-yard run on the third play of the fourth quarter – the first rushing touchdown Muhlenberg has allowed to a running back this season – to make it 21-14.
The Bears had two drives with a chance to tie. The first ended near midfield and the second started at the 19-yard line with 1:14 to play. Ursinus drove to the Muhlenberg 34 with 33.5 seconds to play, but O'Hagan made a leaping interception at the 11-yard line on the next play, and the Mules ran out the clock.
The win was the 50th all-time for Muhlenberg against Ursinus, the most it has vs. any opponent.