ALLENTOWN, PA – The 22^nd-ranked Muhlenberg football team used a pair of second-half touchdown passes from senior Michael Hnatkowsky and a blocked punt return for a touchdown to fuel a 21-6 victory against 11^th-ranked Johns Hopkins at Scotty Wood Stadium Friday night.  Both teams stand at 5-1 overall and 4-1 in the Centennial Conference with tonight's result.
 
The Mules led 7-0 at the half and pushed the lead to 14-0 with a Hnatkowsky-to-Michael Jenkins touchdown on a fourth-and-10 from the Blue Jay 29-yard line with 4:50 showing on the third-quarter clock.  The touchdown capped an impressive 12-play, 60-yard drive that saw the Mules convert a third-and-eight, a third-and-nine and the fourth-and-10 on the touchdown pass.
 
The Blue Jays responded with their only scoring drive of the game as they took over at their own 16 on the ensuing kickoff and went 84 yards in 12 plays with junior Danny Wolf scoring on a one-yard run to make it 14-6.  The Blue Jays went for two after the touchdown, but Wolf was stopped a yard short of the end zone to keep it an eight-point game entering the fourth quarter.
 
The 14-6 score held until midway through the fourth quarter when the Mules scored what proved to be the insurance touchdown on the drive after the Wolf score.
 
The Mules took over at their own 25 and proceeded to eat more than six minutes off the clock before icing the game with a Hnatkowsky-to-Ethan Brader four-yard touchdown pass.  A pair of third-down conversions and a key completion on fourth-and-two from the Blue Jay 33 kept the drive alive before Hnatkowsky hit Brader for the touchdown.
 
The Blue Jays had a golden chance to pull within a touchdown after Brader's score as they moved from their own 35 to a first-and-goal situation from the Muhlenberg nine, but Ryan Stevens' pass to Ryan Hubley at the goal line deflected into the air and was intercepted in the end zone with 3:50 remaining in the fourth quarter and the Mules were able to run out the clock to secure the victory.
 
The Mules had scored the only touchdown of the first half midway through the second quarter on a 21-yard blocked punt return by senior Spencer Kirin.  Kirin came in clean on Blue Jay punter Kyle Battles and cleanly blocked the punt, scooped it up at the 21 and raced untouched into the end zone for what proved to be the only scoring of the first half.
 
The 7-0 lead held until Hnatkowsky's fourth-down touchdown pass to Jenkins in the back of the end zone gave the Mules the 14-0 lead and the Blue Jays were never able to pull even down the stretch.
 
Johns Hopkins will return to action on Saturday, October 23 when the Blue Jays travel to Gettysburg for another the Centennial Conference game.  Kickoff from Musselman Stadium is set for 12 pm.