No finishing kick for Mules
Muhlenberg falls into deep hole, misses out on berth in Stagg Bowl
Muhlenberg coach Nate Milne, still soaked from pacing a wet sideline for three hours, wasn’t yet ready to let go of the season.
Nor, for that matter, his sense of humor.
“At least the weather was good today,” Milne joked.
The most successful football season in school history ended Saturday with a 45-14 loss to North Central (Illinois) College in the NCAA Division III semifinals, where Muhlenberg played for the first time. It was a remarkable year that began in May with an exhibition victory in Florence, Italy, over an Italian professional team and ended one game shy of a national championship appearance.
The Mules sought to become the school’s first team in any sport to play for an NCAA title. Instead, they finished 13-1 and pointed toward making a run at the Amos Alonzo Stagg Bowl in 2020.
“We’re one game better than last year, so let’s work our tails off to get one game better next year,” said Milne, who is 24-3 in two seasons as Muhlenberg’s head coach.
Saturday’s game offered a glimpse at how Muhlenberg needs to progress to take that step.
Prior to the semifinals, it had allowed a total of eight points in three playoff games. No team had scored more than 26 against it in 2019. And the Mules allowed a total of 91 points in nine Centennial Conference games.
Then North Central, which entered the game with the nation’s second-ranked offense, overwhelmed that group. The Cardinals (13-1) scored on five of their first six possessions and produced 486 yards of total offense, nearly double what Muhlenberg had been allowing.
Quarterback Broc Rutter, one of two 4,000-yard passers in Division III, threw for 193 yards and five touchdowns. Running back Ethan Greenfield, the nation’s leader in all-purpose yards, rushed for 199 yards, 52 more than any team did against Muhlenberg this season. And receiver Andrew Kamienski caught four touchdown passes, giving him a Division III-record 30 this season.
They all worked behind an offensive line that moved with power and pace. Mules senior Mickey Kober called it the best line he has faced in four years.
“As the [Muhlenberg] offensive line coach, when I watched that line, I’m going, whoa,” Milne said. “When you look at the offensive line and say they’re fast — good gravy, what is the rest of their team going to
“We’re one game better than last year, so let’s work our tails off to get one game better next year.” —Muhlenberg head coach Nate Milne
be like?”
Despite a piercing rain, the game drew an announced crowd of 3,845 to Scotty Wood Stadium, which vibrated when Muhlenberg’s Joseph O’Hagan intercepted Rutter on the game’s first offensive play. After that, North Central dominated.
“They play with so much confidence,” Milne said of the Cardinals. “What is there for them not to believe in? For them to take the crowd out of it that early, that was really, really well done on their part and gave them even more confidence.”
Still, the interception marked a frustrating start for the Cardinals,
whose visit to the Lehigh Valley began with frustrations.
The team arrived late Thursday night to find their hotel dotted with barking dogs, bedbugs and, in one player’s case, sheets with a blood stain. North Central checked out Friday morning and into another hotel.
After the game, Rutter and Kamienski laughed about the unpleasant night, just as they did about their season-opening win over Christopher Newport University in Virginia. Before that game, both of the team’s buses broke down driving from Washington, D.C. to Newport News. One busload of players was stuck beneath an overpass for 45 minutes.
“We laugh at it and say, ‘Hey, what else you got? What else can you bring our way? Because we’re ready for it, and we’re going to keep swinging.’ ” North Central coach Jeff Thorne said.
Muhlenberg kept swinging at a comeback but found roadblocks.
Quarterback Michael Hnatkowsky, who threw for 277 yards, was intercepted on his second pass of the game, negating his defense’s interception. Hnatkowsky’s receivers dropped several passes (including two early first-down conversions) in the wet conditions, and a miscommunication sent a first-quarter snap sailing over his head.
The game truly turned early in the first quarter after Muhlenberg fumbled a kickoff while trailing 14-0. North Central recovered, and Kamienski scored five plays later, giving his team a 21-0 lead. The Cardinals extended their lead to 35-0 midway through the second quarter.
“Today we were just outmatched in a lot of ways,” Milne said.
Muhlenberg got on the board late in the first half, when running back James Diggs stretched into the end zone on a fourth-and-1 dive. Diggs kept the drive going with a 47-yard gain on a previous fourth-and-1.
Senior Ryan Curtiss, Muhlenberg’s record-setting tight end, added a 74-yard touchdown catch early in the fourth quarter.
“What a great week this was to epitomize Muhlenberg College football,” Milne said. “With finals going on and coming out to practice each day and then playing the biggest game here in Muhlenberg College history.”