Rob Flowers-Muhlenberg

Muhlenberg head coach Rob Flowers knew the attitude of his players had changed going into Friday’s rivalry game against Reading. “When we got here, there was definitely a fear that our kids had with playing Reading. We didn’t see that in the meeting today. We saw something different in their eyes, in their body language…They wanted this one,” explained Flowers. The Muhls snapped the Red Knights’ three-game winning streak in the series with a 48-0 rout in Laureldale. Muhlenberg reached the end zone on seven of its eight possessions in the first half. The (2-0) Muhls outgained Reading 437-to-57 before hoisting the “Battle of the Border” trophy.

Adriel Baez hit Mike Miller down the right sideline for 33 yards on the first play from scrimmage. The 5’10, 170-pound sophomore quarterback ended up 4-of-10 for 167 yards. “He’s coming along. I gotta remind our staff this guy is a young kid. He’s gonna continue to get better,” noted Flowers. On Muhlenberg’s second play, Cam Small took an inside handoff and raced 38 yards for a touchdown. The Red Knights, who have changed to the Wing-T offense this season, fumbled on their second play. Small capped a 41-yard drive with a 2-yard run out of the Wildcat formation. The All-State running back added another 2-yard touchdown run on the following possession. It was 21-0 with 6:30 remaining in the first quarter. Small went 27 yards to make it 28-0 with nine minutes to go before halftime. The 5’11, 185-pound senior broke free down the right sideline for an 80-yard touchdown run less than three minutes later. Small scored five times in just 18 minutes of game action. “His physical presence is a lot and he goes hard. What’s special about Cam that nobody can see is he loves the guys that are around him,” emphasized Flowers. Small piled up 210 yards on a dozen carries. The Muhls rumbled for 270 rushing yards. The offensive line includes right tackle Tony Ferreira (6’8, 304) and left guard Zavier Otero (6’, 290).

Baez lofted a perfect 46-yard touchdown pass to Freddy Lacey down the right sideline to extend the lead to 41-0 with 3:24 remaining in the second quarter. Lacey provided three catches for 122 yards. “He’s so explosive and he’s playing better this year. He’s very valuable,” said Flowers. The 6’3, 184-pound senior also came up with an interception in the third quarter. Miller completed the first half onslaught with a 6-yard touchdown run 90 seconds before the break. He had 56 yards on three carries.

Reading committed a trio of turnovers. Senior quarterback Jason Plylaharn was 6-of-14 for 76 yards and an interception. The (0-2) Red Knights could never establish a running attack. They have a lot of first-year starters after losing 24 players to graduation.

Meanwhile, Muhlenberg returned eight starters on offense and seven on defense. Flowers, who spent seven years as the head coach at Reading, knows all about this rivalry. “It means a lot to our kids nowadays. The kids were super excited about the trophy. I think they’re more excited than being (2-0) right now,” he said with a smile.