Muhls hope to do more than just give Eagles a run for their money
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Cameron Small was hurting.
The Muhlenberg tailback went into last year’s Week 7 game against Exeter with his quads aching and sharp pain running through his legs.
His lower body was spent from carrying the load in six hard games in the weeks before, including a 22-carry, 257-yard effort the week before against Elizabethtown.
“I was very banged up,” he recalls of a season that saw him top 1,000 rushing yards in those first six weeks.
If Small was tired, or hurting, or less than 100 percent, he sure as heck forgot about it the moment the ball was kicked off. He raced 78 yards on his second touch of the night and didn’t stop churning his powerful legs and slipping through tackles until the final seconds of that wild shootout.
He finished with three touchdowns and a program-record 346 yards, the eighth-highest rushing total in Berks history.
It wasn’t enough.
“Yeah, I had a great game,” he says, looking back to that 56-28 loss, “but it wasn’t the ideal game that I wanted; I wanted to win the game.”
The Muhls were just feeling their way at this point a year ago. They were coming off a one-win season and playing for a new head coach, Rob Flowers. After years of frustration they were finally starting to feel some success.
Lancaster-Lebanon League rushing leaders
Pushing the unbeaten, state-ranked Eagles – the Muhls were within 27-22 midway through the second quarter – felt like a victory. Flowers saw something in the way his guys fought that night against a giant foe. He saw the flickering embers of what has become a wildfire – a 6-0 start that has Flowers and others vividly remembering the way it was back in the day, when the Muhls ruled the Inter-County League.
Small topped 2,000 yards in his final game last season, a win over William Allen in an Eastern Conference championship that gave the Muhls four wins and a spark heading into this season.
Just a couple of years ago it would’ve been unimaginable to envision the Muhls in a midseason showdown of unbeatens but here they are, ready to play Exeter, the winner to remain on top in Section 2 of the Lancaster-Lebanon League.
The stakes have been raised; Flowers, Small, and the Muhls (3-0, 6-0) won’t be satisfied to just put up some big stats.
“It’s an opportunity for us to go out there and win the game,” Flowers said. “That’s our goal, to win the game. Not to come out and say: ‘Hey, Muhlenberg did a great job.’ Muhlenberg wants to win the game.”
That’ll be a lot to tackle, even for the best team Muhlenberg’s put on the field in the last decade. The Eagles (3-0, 6-0) are ranked No. 5 in the state and taking no prisoners. Even with their No. 1 quarterback, Riley Martinez, sacked with a season-ending injury in Week 2 they haven’t missed a beat.
They’re averaging 44.1 points per game and are ranked No. 7 in the league in total offense. They graduated a two-time All-State tailback, Jayden Zandier, and plugged in another game-changing ballcarrier, Leo Brown. He’s rushed for 889 yards, has scored 13 TDs, and is averaging nearly a first down every time he wraps his arms around the football.
“Jayden Zandier put on a show against us,” said Muhlenberg linebacker Cooper Burr, reflecting back to a four-touchdown, 312-yard effort. “We’ve got a better defense (this year and we’re) looking to stop Leo Brown.”
Exeter entered last year’s game with a defense that had allowed fewer points than all but one team in the state and was ranked No. 2 in the league in total defense. By halftime Small had 241 yards and a pair of long TD runs.
“We were not gap-sound, we were over-pursuing, and we weren’t ready for the cut-back lanes,” said Exeter coach Matt Bauer when asked why his defense couldn’t stop Small.
So, did the Eagles learn something from that game that will help them slow down Small come Friday night?
“Gosh, I hope so,” Bauer said.
Small remains just as big a threat this season. He has rushed for 957 yards and leads Berks with 16 TDS.
He has rushed for 3,410 career yards. He needs 275 yards to crack Berks’ all-time Top 10 and 590 yards to become just the sixth in Berks history to reach 4,000 yards.
Last week he became the third Muhlenberg ballcarrier to top 3,000 career yards, following Jason Reinhart and Mel Fegely. He needs 17 yards to pass Fegely for No. 2 on the Muhls’ all-time list and 696 yards to top Reinhart’s record of 3,703.
It’s not all Cameron Small all the time for the Muhls as it was a year ago. That’s why they are so much better this season. Sophomore quarterback Adriel Baez has taken a huge leap forward in his second years as a starter and he’s got as good a pair of weapons at wide receiver in Michael Miller Jr. and Freddy Lacey as any passer in the league.
“You can’t zone in completely on Small, because Lacey and Miller Jr., they can all hurt you at any time,” Bauer said. “Hopefully we’re up to the challenge.”
The Muhls pride themselves on playing aggressive, physical football; they’ll be challenged to match the size and strength the Eagles put on the line.
“It’s gonna take every last bit of effort, every last bit of your strength (we’ve got),” said Burr. “Whether you’re hurt, whether you’re tired, you’ve got to be ready to go with all your effort.”
Berks’ 300-yard rushing performances
| Player | School | Yards | Opponent | Year |
| Tanner Vanderslice | Daniel Boone | 403 | Muhlenberg | 2019 |
| Joey Rys | Central Catholic | 379 | Kutztown | 2010 |
| Angel Cruz | Conrad Weiser | 374 | Muhlenberg | 2012 |
| Dominic Caruso | Twin Valley | 358 | Fleetwood | 2020 |
| Dan Ziegler | Twin Valley | 358 | Hamburg | 2014 |
| David Gilmore | Central Catholic | 356 | Wyomissing | 1983 |
| Dustin Manz | Gov. Mifflin | 352 | Conestoga Valley | 2006 |
| Cameron Small | Muhlenberg | 346 | Exeter | 2024 |
| Calvin Laing | Kutztown | 341 | Fleetwood | 2005 |
| Elly Salamo | Reading | 340 | McCaskey | 1998 |
| Eric Nangle | Exeter | 332 | Cedar Cliff | 2021 |
| Joey Rys | Central Catholic | 332 | Upper Dauphin | 2010 |
| Alex Auston | Wilson | 331 | McCaskey | 1997 |
| Nick Singleton | Gov. Mifflin | 330 | Warwick | 2021 |
| Lennon Neiman | Kutztown | 330 | Pequea Valley | 2021 |
| Nate Romig | Daniel Boone | 330 | Hamburg | 2005 |
| Malcom Williams | Reading | 322 | Manheim Township | 2005 |
| Jeff Niedrowski | Wilson | 319 | Gov. Mifflin | 1991 |
| Jayden Zandier | Exeter | 312 | Muhlenberg | 2024 |
| Todd Schaeffer | Daniel Boone | 308 | Muhenberg | 1998 |
| Czion Brickle | Fleetwood | 306 | Solanco | 2023 |
| Pete Gilmore | Wilson | 303 | Manheim Central | 1999 |
| Todd Schaeffer | Daniel Boone | 303 | Conrad Weiser | 1998 |
| Dominic Giuffre | Sch. Valley | 302 | Hamburg | 2022 |
