/seasons/2017/contrib/20171104jdhh69

Muhlenberg Clinches Eighth Straight Winning Season

More news about: Muhlenberg

Michael Hnatkowsky passed for 343 yards and four touchdowns as the Muhlenberg College football team rolled past Gettysburg, 39-14, to retain possession of the Old Tin Cup.

Hnatkowsky, who set a school record for freshmen with 371 passing yards last week against Johns Hopkins, completed 27 of 36 attempts in becoming the first Mule freshman with back-to-back 300-yard games. The four-touchdown game was his third of the season.

Josiah Wright caught six passes for a career-high 149 yards and two touchdowns, and Max Kirin hauled in a career-high nine passes for 72 yards and a score.

The Mules (6-3, 5-3), who clinched their eighth straight winning season, amassed 504 yards of total offense and held possession for more than 40 minutes.

After a scoreless first quarter, Hnatkowsky hit Stephen Dranoff with a 3-yard touchdown pass on the first play of the second quarter.

Kyle Wilczynski forced and recovered a fumble on the ensuing kickoff, and three plays later Nick DeLucas ran in from 2 yards out, giving Muhlenberg two touchdowns in 67 seconds.

A 32-yard pass reception by Matthew Stickney set up Brian Goodwin's 26-yard field goal to make it 16-0 with 4:09 left in the half. Gettysburg (3-6, 3-5) answered with a long touchdown pass a minute late to close to within 16-7.

On the next Bullet possession, Kwasi Ampomah forced a fumble with a sack and ran the recovery into the end zone. Although the touchdown was called back due to an illegal block penalty, the Mules started their drive at the Bullet 39 and need only five plays to score again. The last four were completions to Kirin, the final one covering 11 yards.

The first drive of the third quarter featured the Hnatkowsky-to-Wright combo, with the duo hooking up for plays of 29, 14 and 19 yards – the last one a touchdown to extend the lead to 29-7.

Hnatkowsky connected with Wright from 23 yards out on the fourth play of the fourth quarter for the Mules' last touchdown.

The Muhlenberg defense held Gettysburg, which came in third in the Centennial Conference with 175.0 rushing yards per game, to 53 yards on 26 carries.

Michael Blank led the defense with a career-high 11 tackles, and Ampomah had a pair of sacks among his six tackles.

James Diggs rushed for 82 yards on 21 carries. Wilczynski caught five passes for 56 yards and added 26 rushing yards to go along with his fumble recovery.

 

Dec. 15: All times Eastern
Final
Cortland 38, at North Central (Ill.) 37
@ Salem, Virginia
Video Box Score Recap Photos
Dec. 9: All times Eastern
Final
North Central (Ill.) 34, at Wartburg 27
Box Score Recap
Final
Cortland 49, at Randolph-Macon 14
Box Score Recap Recap Recap Photos
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