Despite loss to Bucks, Muhls have positive outlook as they head to postseason
2025 Berks football coverage presented by
Utilities Employees Credit Union
By Sean McBryan — MikeDragoSports.com senior correspondent
The last four regular season finales for Muhlenberg have all ended the same way, with a loss to Conestoga Valley.
Four years ago, it completed a 2-8 season. Three years ago: 1-9. Last year, a 3-7 regular season before the Muhls ended on a high note with a win in the 5A/6A Eastern Conference championship game.
| Final | |
| Conestoga | 45 |
| Muhlenberg | 24 |
Friday night, Muhlenberg fell to the Buckskins 45–24 in Laureldale, but what’s next isn’t locker-cleaning or a feel-good consolation playoff. The Muhls will be preparing for their first District 3 playoff appearance since 2013.
“We finished the regular season 8-2 and we get to be in a district playoff game next week,” Muhlenberg head coach Rob Flowers said of his team’s turnaround season. “It’s important for our young men to understand that and see that and know that we got life.
“We’re not giving our last handshakes. We’re going downstairs and putting our stuff in the bin to get washed, to come back to practice on Monday.”
The Muhls were playing for a share of the section title, but will have another week of football. They unofficially sit at No. 9 in the District 3 Class 5A power rankings, meaning they’d travel to the No. 8 seed — currently Spring Grove — on Halloween for their first district playoff appearance in over a decade.
The official District 3 playoff brackets will be released Sunday.
Another positive for the Muhls (4-2, 8-2) was senior running back Cam Small, who ran for 171 yards and a touchdown to break Muhlenberg’s all-time rushing record of 3,703, set by Jason Reinhart in 1999.
“Honestly, it’s great,” Small said. “It was nice to get it out the way. Now I can get it all out of my head and just move on to the playoffs and a whole new, different type of game to prepare for all week.”
Small now sits at 3,767 career yards at Muhlenberg. He also eclipsed 4,000 total career rushing yards and moved into fifth all-time in Berks County history with 4,169 yards trailing only Gov. Mifflin’s Nick Singleton (6,326), Hamburg/Wilson’s Iggy Reynoso (4,778), Daniel Boone’s Nate Romig (4,492), and Central Catholic’s David Gilmore (4,288).
“He’s meant everything,” Flowers said of his running back. “I told him earlier how much I appreciate his work ethic, the way he approaches the game, the violence in which he runs. Congratulations, young fella.”
The record-breaking running back — and standout linebacker — has been a vital piece of the Muhls’ newfound success. Small doesn’t relish in the individual or team accolades, he passes the credits to others. That shows the new culture of this Muhlenberg team.
“We had the kids all along,” Small said. “It just took the right leader, which is Coach Flowers, and buying into it. I definitely can see in this group that we actually want to win, and we want to do the best we can out there all the time.”
The Muhls were unable to contain Conestoga Valley and its impressive quarterback Sawyer Esbenshade, who accounted for five touchdowns. Not many teams were able to stop him this season.
“We just weren’t getting hands on receivers and letting them run free,” Small said. “That was the main thing, and we weren’t tackling on defense. We just need to clean some of those things up and get ready for next week.”
The Buckskins (6-0, 10-0) won their 22 straight regular season game, finished undefeated for the second straight regular season, and moved to 6-0 all-time against the Muhls.
Still, the Muhls kept fighting until the final gun and gave themselves some positives to build off come next Friday.
“We got off to a slow start,” Flowers said. “You can’t spot a good football team 28 points. We’re not going to roll over and give up to anybody. It didn’t happen with the first loss. It didn’t happen with the second loss. It’s not going to take place. This group of young men is not built like that.”
Teagan Ruble got the scoring started with a 3-yard TD run to finish an eight-play, 69-yard drive with 4:13 left in the first quarter.
| SECTION 2 | League | Overall |
| Conestoga Valley | 6-0 | 10-0 |
| Exeter | 5-1 | 8-2 |
| Muhlenberg | 4-2 | 8-2 |
| Ephrata | 3-3 | 6-4 |
| Elizabethtown | 2-4 | 5-5 |
| Gov. Mifflin | 1-5 | 3-7 |
| Lebanon | 0-7 | 0-10 |
Esbenshade scored on a 19-yard run with 9:35 left, hit Josiah Garcia for a 25-yard score with 4:04 left, and hit Garcia again for a 22-yard TD with one second left to give the Buckskins a 28-0 lead at halftime.
Small scored on a 23-yard run with 7:05 left in the third quarter to give the Muhls some life.
Colson Erb hit a 23-yard field goal with 3:02 remaining to make it 31-6.
Michael Miller Jr.’s 65-yard touchdown run again sparked the Muhls with 1:07 left in the third, but the Bucks responded on Esbenshade’s 18-yard TD pass to Jayden Conaway five seconds into the fourth.
Miller Jr. tacked on a 3-yard TD run with 6:12 left in the game before Esbenshade scored with his legs again, this time from 6 yards out with 4:51 left.
Adriel Baez hit Christian Coley for a 9-yard TD with 2:32 left to finish a 9-play, 67-yard drive that the Muhls will hope to use as some momentum going into districts.
| 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Final | |
| Conestoga Valley | 7 | 21 | 3 | 14 | 45 |
| Muhlenberg | 0 | 0 | 12 | 12 | 24 |
Scoring summary
| 1 | Conestoga Valley | Ruble, 3 run (Erb kick) | 4:13 |
| 2 | Conestoga Valley | Esbenshade, 19 run (Erb kick) | 9:35 |
| 2 | Conestoga Valley | Garcia, 25 pass from Esbenshade (Erb kick) | 4:04 |
| 2 | Conestoga Valley | Garcia, 22 pass from Esbenshade (Erb kick) | 0:01 |
| 3 | Muhlenberg | Small, 23 run (Small run failed) | 7:05 |
| 3 | Conestoga Valley | Erb, 23 field goal | 3:02 |
| 3 | Muhlenberg | Miller, 65 run (Baez pass failed) | 1:07 |
| 4 | Conestoga Valley | Conaway, 18 pass from Esbenshade (Erb kick) | 11;55 |
| 4 | Muhlenberg | Miller, 3 run (Miller run failed) | 6:12 |
| 4 | Conestoga Valley | Esbenshade, 6 run (Erb kick) | 4:51 |
| 4 | Muhlenberg | Coley, 9 pass from Baez (kick blocked) | 2:32 |
Team statistics
| CONESTOGA | MUHLENBERG | |
| First downs | 20 | 24 |
| Rushes-yards | 33-208 | 48-306 |
| Passing yards | 205 | 61 |
| Total yards | 413 | 367 |
| Passes | 13-22-0 | 10-17-0 |
| Fumbles-lost | 0-0 | 0-0 |
| Punts-average | 3-21.7 | 4-29.5 |
| Penalties-yards | 7-56 | 13-125 |
Individual statistics
RUSHING
Conestoga Valley: Ruble 16-82, Esbenshade 8-70, Garcia 6-57, Justiniano 3-(-1).
Muhlenberg: Small 29-171, Miller 10-121, Baez 8-7, Faulkner 1-7.
PASSING
Conestoga Valley: Esbenshade 13-22-0—205.
Muhlenberg: Baez 10-17-0—61.
RECEIVING
Conestoga Valley: Garcia 6-164, Conaway 4-29, Justiniano 3-12.
Muhlenberg: Lacey 4-18, Miller 3-18, Coley 2-17, Cantres 1-8.
