Bullets Football Defeated by Muhlenberg Mules
Bullets football were defeated at Muhlenberg on Oct. 19 with a final score of 42-58. (William Oehler/The Gettysburgian)
By Noah Simkiss, Contributing Writer
On Oct. 19, Bullets football faced off against the Muhlenberg Mules in Allentown. Entering the game, the two teams were evenly matched, with an overall record of 43-43-1 when facing each other, dating back to 1907.
Ultimately, the Bullets were defeated by a final score of 42-58. Despite the loss, the team fought until the very end, and multiple players set personal season- or career-highs.
Barely three minutes into the game, the Mules struck first, taking a six-point lead. The Bullets answered back immediately, gaining a 7-6 lead after a touchdown by Luke Denison ’26 and a successful kick by Isaac Parks-Gill ’28.
Although the Bullets entered the second quarter with a one point lead, the Mules did not let them keep it for long.
At the beginning of the quarter, Muhlenberg regained the lead on a 31-yard touchdown run and added onto it just minutes later with a 24-yard field goal, making the score 7-16.
Despite Muhlenberg retaining the lead for the remainder of the game, the Bullets continued to fight back. A 75-yard run by Rocco Abindoor ’26 threatened the Mules’ lead, bringing it down to only two points.
The back-and-forth continued, with Muhlenberg making it a 14-23 game in seven plays and ending the first half with the lead.
Further extending their lead, the Mules scored again in the beginning of the third quarter. A pass by Abindoor to Jason Roskam ‘26 brought the bullets within nine, and a 21-yard run by Peter Schelling ’25 closed the gap even further, making the score 28-30.
The next rapid-fire series of plays conformed to the back-and-forth pattern of the game.
With 3:15 left in the quarter, Muhlenberg scored on a kickoff return, increasing their lead by seven. In response, a pass from Abindoor to Walle Harwigsson Lundblad ’26 and a two-point conversion brought the Bullets within one. Just four plays later, Muhlenberg was firmly on top again, and the quarter closed on a score of 36-44.
It wasn’t until the fourth quarter that the Mules gained a lead from which the Bullets could not recover. Thanks to an interception at the end of the third quarter that gave Muhlenberg possession to start the fourth, they brought the score to 36-51, and later extended it to 36-58.
Although Gettysburg was unable to come back for the victory, they showed signs of life at the very end. With only 25 seconds left on the clock, a 14-play effort by the Bullets resulted in a last-minute touchdown by Michael Zrelak ’26.
While the game was ultimately a 42-58 loss, the Gettysburg team fought until the last second, and the 42 points scored were the most scored against Muhlenberg since 1999.
The star of the game was Abindoor, who was recently named the Centennial Conference Offensive Player of the Week for the second time in his career and named to the D3Football Team of the Week. Abindoor, who is the team captain alongside Vic Hoffman ‘25, led the team with 504 yards of total offense, becoming only the second Bullet athlete with over 500 total yards of offense. He also had a career-high 352 yards passing and a season-high 152 yards rushed.
Other athletes with notable achievements in the game include Denison with a career-high 84 yards and Anad Charles, whose tackles were in the double digits for the first time in his college career.
Despite the loss, the Bullets’ perseverance against the Muhlenberg Mules was promising. Only time will tell if the Gettysburg team will bring their fight back home, where they will play the College of New Jersey on Saturday at 1 p.m.
