Muhls rally to remain unbeaten, stay atop first place in Section 2
2025 Berks football coverage presented by
Utilities Employees Credit Union
By Logan Moyer — MikeDragoSports.com correspondent
Many of Muhlenberg’s football players weren’t born the last time the Muhls opened a season 6-0.
Adriel Baez certainly wasn’t. Born in 2009, the sophomore quarterback ran for two touchdowns in the fourth quarter to lead the Muhls to a 35-21 Lancaster-Lebanon League Section 2 win, securing the team’s first 6-0 start since 2007.
| Final | |
| Muhlenberg | 35 |
| Elizabethtown | 21 |
“It feels great,” Baez said of his team’s undefeated start. “It shows the work that we’ve put in has paid off.”
The Muhls (3-0, 6-0) were met with some unfamiliar adversity. After a 26-yard touchdown run by Elizabethtown’s Prince Wratto early in the second half, Muhlenberg was trailing for the first time this season.
“I think there might have been a little shock from some guys,” second-year Muhlenberg coach Rob Flowers said. “But there was also some determination to clean this stuff up so that we can go out here and go 6-0.”
Baez’s first touchdown run, a 5-yard keeper in between the tackles, gave the Muhls a lead they would never relinquish. His second score, a 31-yard trot after bouncing out to his right on a designed run, gave Muhlenberg all the cushion it needed to close it out.
“I saw my blockers and I trusted them,” Baez said of his second score. “I kept going outside and it just opened up.”
“He grew up tonight,” Flowers said of his quarterback. “Made some early mistakes, but when the time came and it mattered the most, he was a quarterback and a true leader. That’s what’s important.”
The Bears (0-3, 3-3) fought back with a 21-yard touchdown connection from Trent Kauffman to Gannon Shank, but Muhls’ tailback Cameron Small responded with a 63-yard exclamation point in the final minute of the game to wrap up the two-score win.
Friday was very much a battle between two elite running backs, Small and Wratto. The pair dueled for the majority of the game, but Small won out in the end.
Wratto finished with 164 total yards, finding the end zone twice, in the second and third quarters.
Small struggled a bit in the first half but later on found his usual form, finishing with 226 yards on the ground and 31 more through the air, along with three touchdowns.
His first two scores came in the second quarter on 1-yard and 65-yard runs. He averaged just a hair over 9 yards per carry on 25 touches.
“I have so much trust in Cam,” Baez said. “He’s our guy, man.”
Flowers was proud of his team for responding well to being down so late in the game.
“This is a game last year that we lose in this type of situation,” he said. “But we’re a different type of team; different type of program. That’s the beauty of building it up.”
Muhlenberg is only two seasons removed from a season where it won one game, a one-score win over an equally floundering Lebanon team. The Muhls have already eclipsed their win total of four from last season.
Now they’ll face off with an undefeated Exeter squad that has won 13 straight against their program. Taking down the Eagles will be a tall task, but Flowers’ squad won’t back down.
“We’re looking to win the game,” he said. “There’s no moral victories at this point. . . we passed the physical test against them last year, now we’re looking to win the football game.”
| 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Final | |
| Elizabethtown | 0 | 9 | 6 | 6 | 21 |
| Muhlenberg | 0 | 14 | 0 | 21 | 35 |
Scoring summary
| 2 | Muhlenberg | Small, 1 run (Shupp kick) | 11:56 |
| 2 | Elizabethtown | Wratto, 14 run (kick failed) | 9:19 |
| 2 | Muhlenberg | Small, 65 run (Shupp kick) | 2:13 |
| 2 | Elizabethtown | N’Dikwe, 34 FG | 0:46 |
| 3 | Elizabethtown | Wratto, 26 run (pass failed) | 8:48 |
| 4 | Muhlenberg | Baez, 5 run (run failed) | 8:16 |
| 4 | Muhlenberg | Baez, 31 run (Small pass from Baez) | 6:28 |
| 4 | Elizabethtown | Shank, 21 pass from Kauffman (run failed) | 2:58 |
| 4 | Muhlenberg | Small, 63 run (Shupp kick) | 1:00 |
Team statistics
| ELIZABETHTOWN | MUHLENBERG | |
| First downs | 18 | 18 |
| Rushes-yards | 38-180 | 37-299 |
| Passing yards | 198 | 96 |
| Total yards | 378 | 395 |
| Passes | 13-30-1 | 9-16-1 |
| Fumbles-lost | 0-0 | 0-0 |
| Punts-average | 0-0 | 2-38 |
| Penalties-yards | 9-80 | 9-85 |
Individual statistics
RUSHING
Elizabethtown: Wratto 25-129, Kauffman 10-47, Shank 2-5, Team 1(-1).
Muhlenberg: Small 25-226, Baez 7-48, Miller 4-26, Team 1(-1).
PASSING
Elizabethtown: Kauffman 13-29-1—198, Team 0-1-0—0.
Muhlenberg: Baez 9-15-1—96, Team 0-1-0—0.
RECEIVING
Elizabethtown: Capello 5-66, Yohn 4-48, Burgos 2-28, Wratto 1-35, Shank 1-21.
Muhlenberg: Lacey 3-29, Miller 3-27, Small 2-31, Coley 1-9.
INTERCEPTIONS
Elizabethtown: N’dikwe.
Muhlenberg: Zona.
