The Blue Streaks (11-1) advance to the quarterfinals to face Brockport State, a 15-12 upset winner over Rowan. The Mules had their six-game

Shay scored the Mules’ only touchdown against John Carroll and finished the season with 46 receptions.

winning streak snapped and ended their season with a 10-2 record.

John Carroll took control early, scoring twice in the first five minutes. On Muhlenberg’s third play from scrimmage, Johnny Savage intercepted a pass and returned it to the Mule 23. After a 21-yard run by DeGeorge, Arth connected with Adam Therrien on a fade pass in the end zone.

The Mules had to punt after three plays on their next possession, and the Blue Streaks needed only four plays to travel 49 yards for a second touchdown. DeGeorge’s carry of 30 yards to the 3 set up his touchdown run up the middle on the next play.

The 14 points were more than Muhlenberg had given up in the first quarter (10) all season.

Muhlenberg had a golden opportunity to get back in the game early in the second quarter, when senior Tyler Cathey intercepted a tipped pass at the John Carroll 20. But the Mules lost yardage on their next three plays and had to punt from near midfield.

Muhlenberg finally got on the board on a 40-yard field goal by senior Chris Reed with 3:45 left in the half, capping a 10-play, 35-yard drive. It was his 16th field goal of the season, and his seventh from 40 yards or longer.

On their next series, the Mules took over at their own 20 with 1:54 on the

Senior offensive tackle John Blankenhagen blocks John Carroll defensive tackle John Zupancic in first-quarter action.

clock and executed the two-minute offense, scoring when senior Justin Jones hit junior Kodi Shay for a 3-yard touchdown pass as time expired to make the score 14-10. The drive was kept alive by a successful fake punt on fourth-and-5 from the Mules’ 42, as sophomore Justin Saverine connected with junior safety Thanasis Petrakis, who stretched to make the first down.

John Carroll silenced Muhlenberg’s momentum by taking the opening kickoff of the second half and driving 80 yards in six plays for its third touchdown, scored when Arth hit a streaking Antoine Dunklin on the left sideline for a 48-yard scoring play.

The Mules had a chance to score midway through the fourth after recovering a fumble at the John Carroll 42, but a field-goal attempt was blocked. Angelo Cua intercepted a pass on Muhlenberg’s final offensive play, with 3:58 left, and the Blue Streaks ran out the clock.

“We had a lot of chances today, but we made some mistakes and they capitalized,” said Jones, who finished with 161 passing yards. “Hats off to them. We just didn’t capitalize on the mistakes we forced.”

“They had a great quarterback,” said Petrakis of Arth, a first-team All-American last year. “He was putting the ball in places we haven’t seen all year.”

Junior Matt Bernardo, the Mules’ leading rusher, was held to 50 yards, his lowest total since the first game of the season, on 14 carries, but he did set the school record for all-purpose yards in a season (2,173).

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