The Dickinson football team fell to Muhlenberg on Saturday, Nov. 2 by a score of 42-3. The Red Devils fell behind 14-0 early and trailed 28-3 at halftime. Dickinson falls to 3-5 overall.

Receiver Cody Geyer led the day for the Mules, catching 7 passes for 151 yards and two touchdowns on the day. With starting quarterback Cole Ahnell ’15 out for the rest of the season with an ankle injury, Michael Carmella ’15 stepped in and completed 7-of-14 passes for 81 yards. Devin Gaby ’15 led the receiving corps with 78 yards on three catches, one of which was thrown by running back Shawn Wilson ’16.

Both teams’ defenses held the opposing offense in check to start the game, each side punting the ball away twice. Half way through the first quarter, Muhlenberg quarterback Nick Palladino connected with Geyer on a 62-yard touchdown pass to open the scoring.

The Red Devils then answered with a long drive, methodically moving the ball down the field into Muhlenberg territory. Running back Cedric Madden ’16 rushed for 25 yards on the drive alone. However, after getting stopped on a third down on the Mules 31 yard line, kicker Adam Kaminski ’15 missed a long, 48-yard field goal.

The Mules’ offense wasted no time on their next possession. Palladino connected on an 11-yard pass to start the drive, and then on the next play found Geyer for another long touchdown pass, this time from 58-yards out.

The Red Devils again tried to answer on offense, putting together another long drive and eventually reaching the Mules 25 yard line thanks in part to a 27-yard reception by Gaby. However, just as their last drive, the Red Devils came up with no points, this time throwing an interception. Again the Muhlenberg offense quickly reached the end zone, this time led by running by Mike Harris, and a 24-yard touchdown run by the ever present Geyer to make the score 21-0 half way through the second quarter.

The Red Devils finally got on the scoreboard on what would be their only scoring drive of the day. Carmella connected with Gaby for another 27-yard reception, and then they tacked on another 15-yards thanks to a roughing the passer penalty. Wilson then tricked the defense when he threw a 24-yard strike to Gaby to move the offense inside the red-zone. However, Muhlenberg’s defense stiffened and forced the Red Devils to settle for a 24-yard field goal to make the score 21-3 with just under 2 minutes to go in the first half.

The Mules’ two-minute offense then proved to be too much for the Red Devils’ defense to handle. Palladino led the charge both passing and running, and eventually ran in from 10-yards out for a touchdown with only 25 seconds left in the half.

The Red Devils received the second half kickoff but were forced into a three and out. After a short punt, the Mules started their next drive on the Red Devil 42 yard line. After converting on third down, Palladino connected with receiver Michael Long for a 31-yard touchdown to make the score 35-3, and put the game all but out of reach. Neither team scored for the rest of the quarter.

Safety Jake Meyers ’16 came up with an interception half way through the third quarter on a pass thrown by backup Mules quarterback Joe Carlucci, and impressively returned the pick 35 yards. In the fourth, Carlucci rubbed salt in the wound with a 40-yard touchdown pass to secure the 42-3 victory for the Mules.

First-year defensive lineman Kevin Sherry ’17 led the defense in tackles with eight, and added a sack. Middle linebacker Michael Miller ’14 also tallied eight tackles on the day, while Shane Mitchell ’14 and Connor Thompson ’15 each added five.

The Red Devils are now 3-5 on the season, including 3-4 in Centennial Conference play. They are on the road again this week, as they will travel to rival Gettysburg College on Saturday, Nov 9 for a 1:00 p.m. start. Then, they return home for their last game of the season when they host Ursinus College on Saturday, Nov 16, also at 1:00 p.m.