Five Small trips to end zone loom large as Muhls reclaim Border trophy

By Mike Drago Last updated Sep 14, 2025

Muhlenberg's Cameron Small holds football aloft after another his second of five touchdowns. (PhilMarPhoto)

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By Mike Drago — MikeDragoSports.com Managing Editor

Cameron Small is known around the Muhlenberg football program for his tireless work ethic.

Surprisingly he didn’t mind taking a seat in the second half Friday.

Final
Muhlenberg	48
Reading	0

“It feels great to put that many points on the board and be out by halftime,” the All-State tailback said after a 48-0 win over visiting Reading. “I mean, I’m not really used to it, but it’s fine.”

The Muhls (2-0) didn’t need their best player on the field after intermission. He did so much damage in the first half, with five touchdown runs, that they virtually had the Battle of the Border trophy back in their hands.

Seeing Small run free like that was nothing new to the Muhls: They saw it time and again last season, when he broke program records with 346 rushing yards in a game and 2,051 in a season.

But seeing him do it this time meant a little more to them because they were finally able to get past their rivals and recent nemesis, the Red Knights.

The Muhls were expected to grab the trophy back last year, but the Knights surprised them in a 34-20 victory. That stung for a program that saw itself on the rise. Muhlenberg captain Zavier Otero couldn’t wait for the chance to make amends.

After Small ran for scores of 38, 2, 2, 27, and 80 yards, and after quarterback Adriel Baez torched Reading’s secondary with four long first-half completions, the Muhls got their hands back on the trophy for the first time in four years.

“It was a heartfelt moment,” Otero said of being able to lift the trophy. “I almost cried. It was so great. I love this team so much, I love this community. (Losing to Reading) the last two seasons, it was sad and it was very upsetting.”

The moment was not lost on Muhlenberg’s Rob Flowers, who has coached on both sides of this heated rivalry.

Muhls Cameron Small had plenty of working room Friday. (PhilMarPhoto)

“It’s beautiful to see them celebrate and hold the trophy,” he said. “I think they’re more excited about holding the trophy than being 2-0 right now, and I get it. All the kids (from each of the neighboring schools) know each other, they do a lot of different things together, so I 100 percent get it and it’s a beautiful, beautiful thing for all our guys, especially our seniors.”

The Muhls are so used to seeing Small excel they were barely excited about his first five-touchdown game. He ended five of Muhlenberg’s first six possessions in the end zone, and had a whopping 210 by halftime, on just 12 carries. He didn’t step on the field in the second half.

“Good for him, good for our guys,” Flowers said of Small’s big night. “He runs so hard, man. And the guys around him understand the style.”

The Muhls won big last week, 45-14 at Schuylkill Valley, but their lead back hardly dominated. The Panthers defense was zeroed in on his No. 2 jersey and limited him to 69 yards on 19 carries.

“He wasn’t following some of his blocks last week,” Flowers said, “and this week was, and he was making some plays.”

He wasn’t the only one.

Baez went up top on the Muhls’ first play from scrimmage and connected with Michael Miller Jr. for a 33-yard gain. He kept letting it fly and added completions of 43, 33 and 46 yards in the first half, the last of those to Freddy Lacy, who danced along the sideline to keep his toes inbounds before dashing into the end zone.

Lacey finished with three catches for 122 yards; Baez threw for 167.

The struggling Red Knights (0-2) were never in the game as the Muhls found the end zone 20 seconds into the game, and then again two minutes later.

The Red Knights couldn’t tackle Small, or catch him once he found a seam, and they had trouble staying in front of Muhlenberg receivers. They struggled with penalties and snaps from center, the latter leading to a pair of turnovers. They had trouble blocking at the point of attack and saw their ballcarriers thrown for losses 14 times in the first half alone. At halftime they had a rushing total of minus-28; they finished the game with just 57 total yards.

The Red Knights opened the second half with a long drive that reached the Muhlenberg 22 but then lost 12 and then 14 yards on the next two plays and turned the ball over on the next.

The Muhls even threw a new wrinkle out there for future opponents to think about as they had Small taking direct snaps from center in a Wildcat formation. He was just as effective at that as in taking handoffs.

“We knew it was gonna work because they can’t stop (the) run,” Small said. “We just came out, we executed, and did what we did at practice.”

Only one player in Muhlenberg history has scored six touchdowns in a game: Jason Reinhart, who set the program record against Schuylkill Valley in 1998.

Reinhart had the Muhls’ single-season rushing record of 1,883 yards before Small, playing in his first season at Muhlenberg, smashed it a year ago. Small played at Reading High as a sophomore before transferring.

He said it wasn’t difficult playing against his former team.

“No more friends,” he said, “all business.”

Muhls’ Michael Miller Jr. runs under a long pass. (PhilMarPhoto)

	1	2	3	4	Final
Reading	0	0	0	0	0
Muhlenberg	21	27	0	0	48

Scoring summary

1	Muhlenberg	Small, 38 run (Shupp kick)	11:40
1	Muhlenberg	Small, 2 run (Shupp kick)	9:16
1	Muhlenberg	Small, 2 run (Shupp kick)	6:30
2	Muhlenberg	Small, 27 run (Shupp kick)	9:02
2	Muhlenberg	Small, 80 run (Shupp kick)	6:17
2	Muhlenberg	Lacey, 46 pass from Baez (kick failed)	3:24
2	Muhlenberg	Miller Jr., 6 run (Shupp kick)	1:30

Team statistics

	READING	MUHLENBERG
First downs	11	13
Rushes-yards	34-(19)	25-270
Passing yards	76	167
Total yards	57	437
Passes	6-14-1	4-10-1
Fumbles-lost	5-2	2-0
Punts-average	4-32.7	0
Penalties-yards	9-80	10-100