Box Score (Allentown, Pa.) – The Dickinson football team had another strong outing on Saturday afternoon but came away with a similar result from a week ago as host Muhlenberg came back to claim its season opener, 14-3.
The Red Devils had a solid start, forcing the Mules to punt on their first two possessions before sophomore Trystin Golowski (Columbus, N.J./Bishop Eustace) split the uprights from 29 yards out to put Dickinson on the board with 48 seconds remaining in the first quarter.
The defense continued to hold, keeping the score 3-0 until late in the first half when Mike Hnatkowsky completed a 38-yard pass to Max Kirin to put Muhlenberg on top, 7-3, with 3:13 remaining.
First-year Johnny Knight (Warwick, Md./Bohemia Manor) forced a fumble on a punt in the final minute of the half, but the Mules were able to cover it and ran out the clock with a 7-3 advantage.
Senior Billy Burger (Carlisle, Pa./Carlisle) helped keep the Mules at bay in the third with three punts of over 50 yards. He boomed the first kick of the second half 59 yards and followed up with back-to-back attempts of 54 and 53 yards, respectively.
The Mules capitalized on a fumble recovery and punched one in at the midpoint of the fourth quarter to gain some breathing room with a 14-3 lead.
They regained possession with an interception and took over with 7:03 remaining in the game. Hnatkowsky hit Kirin on a 4th-and-6th to keep the drive alive as Muhlenberg was able to run out the clock to claim the Centennial Conference opener.
Senior captain James Turner (Ridgefield, Conn./Suffield Academy) had another outstanding performance on defense, recording a game-high 16 tackles, including 11 solo stops and a pair of sacks. Matt Butz (Monkton, Md./Hereford) and Brian Snow (Media, Pa./Episcopal) each added seven tackles on the day.
Offensively, Robert Geiss (Malvern, Pa./Great Valley) went 3-for-3, passing for 26 yards before first-year Caleb Pruitt (Conyers, Ga./Heritage) came on to go 9-of-19 for 83 yards.
Junior Daniel Salamone (Great Falls, Va./Langley) caught four passes for 51 yards while Phillip Butler (Ambler, Pa./Upper Dublin) ran for 50 yards on the ground.
Burger averaged 40.6 yards on seven attempts, dropping four inside the 20-yard line.
The Red Devils slip to 0-2 in the season. They return home to battle for the Little Brown Bucket as Gettysburg comes to town for a 1:30 pm kick-off on Saturday at Biddle Field.
