The Muhlenberg football team kicked off their 2023 season with a bang. Muhlenberg’s first game was against their crosstown rival, Moravian University. Friday, Sept. 1, was the Mules’ home opener at Scotty Wood Stadium, a game in which they battled hard and came away with a 52-12 victory, keeping the Sodexo Cup trophy in Allentown.
The Mules are standing strong, defending their home ground with two back-to-back wins against Moravian and Salisbury. On Sept. 9, the Mules defeated Salisbury University 29-17. Salisbury was a nationally ranked team, placing number 25 in the country for 2023 before Saturday. The team was already fired up from their first victory of the year and brought high energy and intensity going into the game against Salisbury. The Mules battled hard and came out with a well-earned win against Salisbury and a new #25 national ranking.
Captain and left tackle Zachary Greenberg ‘24 leads by example on and off the field, helping prepare his team for victory. “Going into week one, we prepared with the same mentality we do every week, outwork our opponents with our work ethic and finish the week 1-0. The team executed at a very high level, immediately building on the areas we lacked from the previous year. Our execution included all three phases (offense, defense and special teams) operating complementary.”
Matt McKenna ‘24, senior tight end, received three touchdown passes from Quarterback Joe Repetti ‘25, leading the Mules to further victory. McKenna tied the school record for touchdown receptions as a tight end in one game. Fifth-year Tight End James Nye ‘24 received the first two touchdown passes of the game against Moravian, surpassing his third career 100-yard game. McKenna and Nye both received the Bianco Award and game MVP. McKenna shared his win with the team, “Receiving the Bianco Award with [Nye] was a great achievement, but we couldn’t have gotten it without the rest of our offense. Joe Repetti had a stellar performance as QB, where he allowed me and [Nye] to make the plays we did. Everyone on our offense, from O-line to our receivers to our running backs, played incredibly, as we all had great performances, allowing us to obtain our first W.”
The currently undefeated Mules have been pushing themselves, putting in the time and effort to do whatever it takes to win their way to the top. McKenna explained, “Our team has been working extremely hard since the end of last season. It’s thrilling to see all our hard work be put on display and for us to get our first win and to start the season off in a great way.” The Mules are just getting started and are excited about what the future entails. Repetti had two outstanding performances, surpassing 3,000 career passing yards in the game against Moravian. “It felt nice to throw five touchdown passes, knowing it would help my team get closer to winning that football game. Any time the offense can score five touchdowns means that receivers are getting open, the offensive line is blocking and our defense can feel more comfortable with a safe lead,” said Repetti. He has been playing selflessly, consistently helping his teammates score and improve.
Greenberg stated, “We are constantly working to build upon our previous successes and not let them linger mentally for too long. The success from week one is just a preview of what we can do this season. Our mentality is ‘one week at a time’ and working towards re-attacking our weekly goal of going 1-0. We are thrilled with how we performed in week one and [are] excited to see how we are able to build on our success on a weekly basis.”
Repetti commented, “I think the season will be a step up from a disappointing 2022 season. We return a lot of guys on both sides of the ball, had a great camp in August and we will hopefully find ourselves atop the Centennial Conference at the end of the season once again.” Greenberg, Repetti and the team are both fired up and ready to compete for the Centennial Conference championship, setting the team standard for what it takes to win. The Mules show up daily, ready to compete, work hard and improve their game for future victories continuing into the 2023 season.
