On Saturday, Sept. 21, Muhlenberg football played its home opener for the 2024 season against The College of New Jersey (TCNJ). The Mules, coming off of a tough loss to Salisbury University last weekend, were more motivated than ever to put on a strong performance. Their recent defeat propelled them to analyze their performance, make necessary adjustments and work even harder to prepare for their upcoming matches against TCNJ throughout the year.
Running Back Aaron Daniels ‘25 said, “There were many things to improve on in all three areas of the game. As an offense, we kept beating ourselves with bad penalties and missed assignments, putting us in bad 3rd and long situations. Special teams made mistakes in their alignments and assignments. The defense needed to be very sound in their assignments, which was challenging for any defense in the country. We knew we were playing a very tricky triple-option offense, which Salisbury runs to perfection, and if anyone made a mistake, even by a second, it could result in a touchdown. But we watched the film and will continue to get better to bounce back and ensure a game like that never happens again.”
“We knew this game would be a nail-biter. We knew the type of team TCNJ was coming in undefeated with talented players. However, we all had each other’s back throughout the whole game.” – Aaron Daniels ’25
The Mules put that game behind them while also learning from their past mistakes to prepare for the next game. Captain and Safety Owen Kovacs ‘25 said, “We draw a line under each week and use what we’ve learned from each experience to fuel us for the next one. We never get too high in good performances and never too low in bad performances. For us, it’s all about consistency, which will help us in the long run.” Despite that loss, the Mules fought their way back to victory. The Mules played TCNJ on Alumni Weekend and came away with a sweet win. The Mules started the game off strong, scoring the only touchdown in the first quarter. TCNJ was constituted to fight hard through the whole game, keeping the score very close. The game came down to a defensive play when Muhlenberg’s Matt Papa ‘25 blocked a game-tying field goal attempt by TCNJ.
Muhlenberg led 21-14 at halftime with two touchdowns by Amari Dunn ‘26 and one by Timothy Buda ‘25. The lead increased to 35-17 after a 2-yard touchdown run by Isaac Schaffer-Neitz ‘27. The Mules secured the win with short touchdown runs by Dunn and Joe Repetti ‘25 in the third and fourth quarters. Running back Aaron Daniels ‘25 said, “We knew this game would be a nail-biter. We knew the type of team TCNJ was coming in undefeated with talented players. However, we all had each other’s back throughout the whole game. We were picking each other up if a teammate was down. The defense picked the offense up if we turned the ball over, and the offense picked the defense up if they let up a score. When you have a team that is so tightly bonded as we are and with how experienced we are, there is never any panic. We are used to close games when we play teams like Johns Hopkins every year. Luckily, we have great players and great leaders in our captains, Joe Repetti and Owen Kovacs [‘24], who can run around and make crazy plays while keeping calm during the close game so we can come together and get the job done.”
“We draw a line under each week and use what we’ve learned from each experience to fuel us for the next one.”
The game was a hard-fought battle, with Muhlenberg ultimately securing the win with solid defensive play and impressive touchdown runs. The Mules are ready to take on Ursinus College on Friday, Oct. 4, which will be the team’s first Centennial Conference game of the season.
