“I had to get fluid drained from my shoulder, so I couldn’t play last week,” Muth said.

The speedy, elusive Muth certainly made up for lost time in an impressive way Friday night at Tiger Stadium, returning a kickoff 85 yards for a first-quarter touchdown, running 78 yards from scrimmage in the second quarter for another, and scoring a third on a 32-yard jaunt from scrimmage in the third quarter, as Hollidaysburg mercy-ruled Mifflinburg, 49-14, in a battle of unbeaten teams.

“I’ve always been fast,” said the 5-8, 164-pound Muth. “I just try to use my speed to my advantage.”

Muth rushed for 172 yards on 15 carries for Hollidaysburg (5-0), which racked up 304 of its 405 yards in total offense via the ground game.

Cole DeLattre celebrates with Carter Muth after a touchdown. Photo for the Mirror by Chuck Meyers

“He’s very shifty,” Hollidaysburg coach Homer DeLattre said. “He’s a shorter running back, so he’s hard for (opposing defenders) to find behind the line of scrimmage. And when he bounces out, he gets into that second and third gear, and everybody can see how fast that he is.”

Senior wideout Josh Banks scored twice for Hollidaysburg, hauling in a 21-yard pass from senior quarterback Cole DeLattre in the first quarter to open the scoring, and sweeping eight yards around right end for another TD in the third quarter.

Cole DeLattre, who passed for 101 yards, also ran 4 yards for a touchdown in the first quarter and 24 yards for a third-quarter TD that gave Hollidaysburg a 35-point (49-14) lead and kicked the mercy rule clock into effect.

Play of the game: None was bigger than Muth’s 85-yard kickoff return. It occurred immediately after Mifflinburg (4-1) got on the board on an exceptionally well-thrown pass down the middle of the field from junior quarterback Chad Martin to senior wideout Landen Murray that went for a 76-yard touchdown play and narrowed Hollidaysburg’s lead to 14-7. “I got the ball, I saw a hole opening up, and I told myself that I just had to go, go, go,” Muth said.

Player of the game: While scoring three touchdowns, Muth put on a thrilling show of either evading or slipping out of the grasp of several Mifflinburg tacklers on both of his two touchdown runs from scrimmage.

Unsung heroes: Hollidaysburg’s defense bore down and pitched a shutout in the second half after Martin had thrown for 193 first-half yards for Mifflinburg.

Most vital statistic: Hollidaysburg carved out a formidable 304-68 advantage in rushing yards, pointing to the excellent play of the Golden Tigers’ offensive line.

Homer DeLattre: “We did really well in all three phases of the game tonight –offense, defense and special teams. That is what good team football is all about.”

Mifflinburg coach Cody Botts: “Being realistic about it, not a lot of things went well for us today. Offensively, we didn’t finish 75 percent of our drives, defensively, we didn’t tackle well, and we didn’t play well on special teams. All around, it was a very sloppy outing for us.”

Banks: “We played a really good game on offense. When we needed that big play, we got it.”

Cole DeLattre: “I think that we operated well, and that we got done what we needed to get done. We got a touchdown on a pass early in the game, then we pounded the ball on the ground with our running game.”

Notable: Mifflinburg — which got a 5-yard late second-quarter touchdown run from Martin — turned the ball over four times, three on fumbles. Blake Kennedy, Joe Keefer and Ethan Rhodes recovered fumbles for the Tigers, while Kayden McCrystal intercepted a pass … Jackson Marr had an interception and Andrew Yerger recovered a fumble for Mifflinburg … The estimated attendance for the game was announced at 7,133 … The Hollidaysburg Youth Football Association (HAYFA) teams were recognized on the field prior to the game.

Records: Mifflinburg (4-1); Hollidaysburg (5-0).

Next week: Mifflinburg hosts Milton; Hollidaysburg hosts Fort Hill (Md.)

SCORE BY QUARTERS

Mifflinburg 7 7 0 0–14

Hollidaysburg 21 7 21 0–49

First Quarter

H–Banks 21 pass from DeLattre (Walters kick), 7:10.

H–DeLattre 4 run (Walters kick), 2:01.

MIF–Murray 76 pass from Martin (Boyer kick), 1:52.

H–Muth 85 kickoff return (Walters kick), 1:27.

Second Quarter

H–Muth 32 run (Walters kick), 3:24.

MIF–Martin 5 run (Boyer kick), 0:37.

Third Quarter

H–Banks 8 run (Walters kick), 7:26.

H–Muth 78 run (Walters kick), 4:48.

H–DeLattre 24 run (Walters kick), 1:26.

TEAM STATISTICS MIF H

First downs 12 18

Total yards 293 405

Rushes-yards 26-68 41-304

Yards passing 225 101

Passing (comp.-att.-int.) 17-26-1 6-11-1

Punts/avg. 3-38 1-39

Fumbles-lost 4-3 2-1

Penalties-yards 7-50 4-40

INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS

RUSHING–Mifflinburg, Bolick 2-24, Moser 7-21, Martin 11-16, Marr 2-12, Hartman 3-3, Murray 1-(minus 8). Hollidaysburg, Muth 15-172, DeLattre 13-80, Consiglio 5-21, Rhodes 2-12, Banks 1-8, Vent 1-8, Garlick 2-5, Wallace 2-(minus 2).

PASSING–Mifflinburg, Martin 15-23-1-193, Synder 2-3-0-32. Hollidaysburg, DeLattre 6-11-1-101.

RECEIVING–Mifflinburg, Griffith 5-59, Murray 3-74, Marr 2-28, Reibsome 2-15, Moser 2-8, Troup 1-26 Showalter 1-6, Hartman 1-9. Hollidaysburg, Banks 2-54, Metzger 2-38, Stultz 2-9.