Muhls bracing for another emotional ride against rival Red Knights
2024 Berks football coverage
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Muhlenberg’s opening-week win over Schuylkill Valley was an emotional thrill ride for first-year coach Rob Flowers and his players.
The Muhls haven’t enjoyed many ups in recent years – they won just four times in the past five seasons; Flowers has known his share of success in football, much of it as Muhlenberg’s quarterback in the late 1990’s.
He ranks the 29-20 win that kicked off Muhlenberg’s 80th season of football among his football highlights.
“It’s a feeling I don’t think I’ve ever felt as a coach,” said the 42-year-old Flowers, “just to see the joy on our players’ faces, our coaches’ faces, the joy I was feeling. It was a special moment for a lot of reasons.”
The emotions will be high again Friday night when the Muhls run onto the field at Shirk Stadium to face rival Reading High in the 21st edition of the “Battle of the Border.”
It’s a true rivalry in large part because so many of the players and their families are close, with ties to each other’s communities.
Flowers is a perfect example. He considers the city home, played for the Muhls, and was the Red Knights’ head coach from 2011-2017. His staff includes several former Reading players and coaches, such as Offensive Coordinator Adam Burkart, Defensive Coordinator Mike Mish, safeties coach Julius Young-Trapp, and junior high coach John Mish Jr.
Two Muhlenberg key players, Cameron and Dequan Small, played for the Red Knights last season.
“It’s real,” Flowers said of the rivalry. “We came here knowing that every single week was going to be something very, very personal.”
Muhlenberg vs. Reading is one of several intriguing games this extended Labor Day weekend:
- Conrad Weiser kicks things off Thursday at 7 with a visit to long-time rival Elco. The Raiders scored the go-ahead touchdown last year with a minute left. The Scouts won the year before 22-21 with a last-minute TD and two-point conversion.
- Wilson, coming off a 28-20 win over Cheltenham, makes its home debut Friday against a tough Plymouth-Whitemarsh team coming off a 9-2 season and a 49-14 opening win over Upper Merion.
- Gov. Mifflin, which dominated Pleasant Valley 35-0 in Week 1, has a much tougher task this week with a trip to Perkiomen Valley, which was 9-3 last season. The Vikings hung tough with state-ranked Chester in Week 1, losing 19-14.
- Wyomissing will be challenged by a trip to face Inter-Act power Haverford School Friday at 2. The Spartans shut down state-ranked Southern Columbia last week. This is the opener for the Fords.
- Twin Valley gets a visit from Selinsgrove Friday at 7. The Seals won 13 games a year ago and weren’t turned back until the PIAA semifinals. The state-ranked Raiders are hoping to make that kind of run this year after opening with a 42-16 win over Berks Catholic.
Months ago Flowers targeted the season-opener as being critical for the Muhls because he thought it could set the tone for the season. They caught the Panthers with their speed and won the game in the trenches, which pleased Flowers to no end.
“(In the) summer, you don’t know who’s physical, who’s not,” he said of preseason practices without pads. “(When you) put them (out there) your physicality is revealed.”
The Muhls rushed for 245 yards and got a pair of interceptions from Fred Lacey, who sparked them with a first-quarter kickoff return for a TD.
The Red Knights, meanwhile, moved the football but had too many missed opportunities in a 41-16 loss to Phoenixville.
The “Battle of the Border” has been a hot one since the trophy series resumed in 2010. The Red Knights took the last two games. Last year’s 25-7 Week 2 win was their only victory. The Muhls won 38-6 in the 2021 finale, avoiding a winless season. They did the same in 2018, ending the season with a 23-13 victory for their only win of the season.
Muhlenberg hasn’t won back-to-back games since 2017 and hasn’t opened a season 2-0 since 2013. A win over the Red Knights could be the springboard to a true turnaround season in Laureldale. The Muhls are home the next two weeks against Daniel Boone and Lebanon, teams which lost their openers by a combined 68 points; those teams combined for just one win last year.
Flowers doesn’t want to get too far ahead.
“We have focus on what we’re doing and what our mission is,” he said. “We can’t focus on anybody else. We have to defend our win (over Schuylkill Valley). Nobody was expecting us to do that.”