Five touchdowns by Gio Cavanna carries Muhls to .500 for first time in five years
By Matt Gaffney — MikeDragoSports.com correspondent
The once mighty Muhlenberg football program has fallen on hard times in recent years.
Before Friday the Muhls had only experienced the sweet taste of victory three times in their last 40 contests, dating back to 2018.
Lebanon, which came into the contest riding a 15-game losing streak, was hoping to right its own ship. Gio Cavanna sank the Cedars, instead.
Cavanna was a one-man wrecking crew, leading Muhlenberg to a 47-25 Lancaster-Lebanon League Section 2 victory at Laureldale. The senior running back ran 16 times for 240 yards and scored five touchdowns — one shy of the program record.
It’s the first time the Muhls (1-0, 2-2) have been .500 since November 2017. They won a combined two games over the last four seasons.
Lebanon had no answers for the speedy Cavanna as he turned the game into his personal showcase, scoring on runs of 7, 23, 56, and 65 yards to go along with a 90-yard kickoff return. In between the all-purpose back added a two-point conversion and an interception.
It was the type of a throwback performance that led Muhlenberg coach John Lorchak to make an observation that will surely require his do-it-all player to search YouTube for reference.
“Gio is the Gordie Lockbaum of our team,” said the Muhls coach, comparing Cavanna to the Holy Cross standout from the 1980’s. “There’s nothing he can’t do, but the biggest thing about Gio is, he is so selfless.
“He would play any position that we would ask him so that he is able to help his teammates and get a victory. It’s all he’s concerned about.”
Despite making plays all over the field on both sides of the ball it appeared Cavanna still had some gas left in the tank.
“I’m not that tired, surprisingly,” he said. “I’m actually kind of shocked by that.”
After a bit of a sloppy start for both teams, Muhlenberg got things going midway through the first quarter when Cavanna broke free for a 65-yard touchdown to give the Muhls a lead they would never relinquish.
After that first score, the majority of the first half was a field position battle with the Cedars and the Muhls trading punts.
A 38-yard Cavanna punt pinned Lebanon deep in its own territory to start the second quarter. The Muhls forced a punt, setting them up with excellent field position. Six plays later, Cavanna scored from the 7 to give Muhlenberg a 12-0 lead.
The Cedars were determined to get back in the game as they embarked on a nine-play drive right before the half to cut the lead to 12-7 on an Emanuel Mason 1-yard run. The Cedars had to be feeling a little confident with a momentum swing right before the half.
But as Lee Corso would say, “Not so fast my friend.”
Cavanna took the ensuing kickoff 90 yards down the right sideline with 58 seconds in the half left to take the wind out of Lebanon’s sails.
The Muhls continued to increase their lead in the third quarter with Cavanna and his teammates running through, around, and by the Cedars, opening up a 34-7 lead.
Muhlenberg also received contributions from Ulices Ramirez, who added 78 rushing yards, including a 54-yard touchdown sprint through the middle of the Lebanon defense, and Mike Miller, who had a 50-yard TD run on his only touch of the night.
Though the Cedars (0-1, 0-3) faced a steep deficit, Lebanon sophomore quarterback Brandyn Cruz kept firing away, throwing for three fourth-quarter scores. Cruz finished 16-for-32 for 223 yards with three touchdowns and two interceptions.
Jason Reinhart set the Muhlenberg record with six touchdowns in 1998. He also scored five TDs three times. Three other Muhlenberg players have also scored five TDs in a game; Ben Ortiz did it twice in the 2013 season
Though Cavanna had a monster individual performance, his main focus was on the victory and what it meant for the Muhlenberg program.
“It’s a good confidence booster for us and a good momentum shift, especially for our program,” said Cavanna. “Recently, we haven’t been winning a lot of games so coming into this game, we wanted to come out strong. And obviously we did. It was great. I just come out and work my hardest to get wins.”
His coach agreed.
“It’s a huge stepping stone to get to that .500 mark in a league that’s super-competitive,” said Lorchak. “What we are trying to do is build a culture and become competitive. Hopefully, we can move the program forward.”
| 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Final | |
| Lebanon | 0 | 7 | 0 | 18 | 25 |
| Muhlenberg | 6 | 14 | 14 | 13 | 47 |
Scoring summary
| 1 | Muhlenberg | Cavanna, 65 run (kick failed) | 5:17 |
| 2 | Muhlenberg | Cavanna, 7 run (run failed) | 7:56 |
| 2 | Lebanon | Mason, 1 run (Infante kick) | 1:12 |
| 2 | Muhlenberg | Cavanna, 90 kickoff return (Cavanna run) | 58.3 |
| 3 | Muhlenberg | Cavanna, 56 run (conversion failed) | 11:01 |
| 3 | Muhlenberg | Ramirez, 54 run (Dotson run) | 4:28 |
| 4 | Lebanon | Orosco, 13 pass from Castro (conversion failed) | 11:09 |
| 4 | Muhlenberg | Miller, 50 run (Altamirano kick) | 8:19 |
| 4 | Lebanon | Stoner, 32 pass from Castro (conversion failed) | 7:12 |
| 4 | Lebanon | Infante, 30 pass from Castro (conversion failed) | 3:09 |
| 4 | Muhlenberg | Cavanna, 23 run (conversion failed) | 1:31 |
Team statistics
| Lebanon | Muhlenberg | |
| First downs | 12 | 11 |
| Rushes-yards | 24-71 | 36-358 |
| Passing yards | 223 | 21 |
| Total yards | 294 | 379 |
| Passes | 16-31-2 | 3-5-0 |
| Fumbles-lost | 0-0 | 1-0 |
| Punts-average | 6-28.6 | 6-28.8 |
| Penalties-yards | 12-122 | 9-87 |
Individual statistics
RUSHING
Lebanon: Mason 9-41, Orosco 2-22, Watson 2-11, Figueroa 2-6, Trace 1-6, Castro 8-(-15).
Muhlenberg: Cavanna 16-240, Ramirez 7-78, Miller 1-50, Cruz 7-0, Rosario 1-(-2), Lopez 4-(-8).
PASSING
Lebanon: Castro 16-31-2-223.
Muhlenberg: Lopez 3-5-21.
RECEIVING
Lebanon: Stoner 4-97, Infante 4-63, Orosco 3-30, Mason 3-5, Trace 2-28.
Muhlenberg: Gumby 2-14, Cavanna 1-7.
INTERCEPTIONS
Muhlenberg: Cavanna, DeJesus.