football tied for first in lambert poll

The Muhlenberg football team moved into a tie for first place in the ECAC Lambert Meadowlands Football Poll presented by FieldTurf Tarkett following its first-round NCAA win against Salisbury.

The Mules (11-0) were third in the last three polls and

ECAC Lambert Meadowlands Division III Poll School W-L Points 1t. MUHLENBERG 11-0 71 1t. St. John Fisher 10-1 71 3. Wesley 10-1 57 4. New Jersey 9-2 49 5. Washington & Jefferson 10-1 45 6. Curry 12-0 42 7. Salisbury 9-2 31 8. Rensselaer 8-2 13 9t. Ithaca 8-3 10 9t. Middlebury 7-1 10

jumped up after No. 1 Washington & Jefferson was upset by North Carolina Wesleyan in the first round of the NCAAs. St. John Fisher, which had been second, also is tied for first.

Wesley, Muhlenberg’s second-round opponent, is third in the poll.

Established in 1936 as the Lambert Trophy to recognize supremacy in Eastern college football, the award has since grown to recognize the best team in the East in the Bowl Subdivision. In 1957, the Lambert Cup was created to recognize non-Division I-A teams, and in 1966 a Division III award was added. In 1983, the Lambert family decided the Meadowlands Sports Complex would be the best organization with a sincere and involved interest in college athletics to sponsor and manage the award, and since that time, the awards have been known as the Lambert Meadowlands Awards.

To be eligible for the Lambert Meadowlands Award, a school must be located in the East or play half of its schedule against eligible Lambert teams. The territory includes New York, New Jersey, New England and Pennsylvania, while teams in the bordering states of Delaware, Maryland, Virginia and West Virginia and the District of Columbia qualify if half of their schedule features eligible teams.

In other Muhlenberg football news, junior John DeLuca and senior Jordon Grube earned weekly honors from the Centennial Conference. DeLuca was named offensive player of the week for the third time this season after rushing for 186 yards and three touchdowns against Salisbury, and Grube was hailed as special teams player of the week for the second time in three weeks after kicking the game-winning field goal. The Mules’ victory was the first for the CC in the NCAA playoffs since 2002.