2023

Muhlenberg Football Stars Align During Alumni Weekend

The two previous starting quarterbacks, who hold the top two spots on multiple school-record lists for passing, met up with the current starter, who’s on track to take third on those lists.

By: Mike Falk  Wednesday, November 15, 2023 10:03 AM

Michael Hnatkowsky ’21, Joe Repetti ’25 and Nick Palladino ’17

This story originally appeared in the Fall 2023 issue of Muhlenberg Magazine. See the complete digital edition here.

Between his sophomore and junior seasons as Muhlenberg quarterback, Nick Palladino ’17 changed his jersey number from 14 to 2 as a tribute to a former coach, who would encourage him to “practice like you’re number two and play like you’re number one.”

That mindset enabled Palladino to play his way to number one on the Mules’ all-time lists. He broke every school record for passing — completions, percentage, yards, touchdowns.

Now Palladino is number two, surpassed by his successor as Muhlenberg quarterback, Michael Hnatkowsky ’21. And if he stays healthy, current Mule signal-caller Joe Repetti ’25, Hnatkowsky’s successor, is on pace to finish his career at number three.

The three men, who have combined to start all but five Muhlenberg games at quarterback since 2013, met for a photo op this year following the Alumni Weekend game against Salisbury.

That’s 27,130 passing yards, a .651 completion percentage and 327 total touchdowns — and counting — in one picture. And, more importantly, a combined record of 89-22 and a postseason berth every season since 2013.

Palladino, Hnatkowsky and Repetti

“Anyone that’s been around the game of football knows the importance of having a strong quarterback at the helm,” says Palladino, who was a finance and business administration double major and currently lives in the Tampa area and works in the mergers and acquisitions space for BlueChip Underwriting Services. “It’s awesome to see the level of play just continue to rise in that position.”

“Knowing that consistency is going to be there at the quarterback position is invaluable, and I think that’s why we’ve been successful for the long tenure we have,” adds Hnatkowsky, a business administration major who's now an account executive at Johnson Kendall Johnson, an insurance brokerage and consultant firm outside of Philadelphia.

Palladino established himself as the starter by the third game of his freshman season. He was named Centennial Conference rookie of the year and went on to become the first Mule ever to pass for more than 10,000 yards, going 33-9 as a starter.

It was in his senior year (2016) that Palladino met Hnatkowsky for the first time, when the southpaw came to Muhlenberg on a recruiting visit. Both remember their first encounter, in the weight room, vividly.

“We had a real nice conversation just about what it means to be a student-athlete at Muhlenberg and the level of competition,” recalls Palladino. “I had a good feeling after that conversation that we were going to lock him up.”

“It’s a great culture here we’ve built at Muhlenberg, and being the starting quarterback here means you can lead a really good football team. It’s a great place to play.”
—Joe Repetti ’25

Hnatkowsky more than lived up to the standard set by Palladino, breaking most of his predecessor’s records. The two-time CC player of the year won 41 games as a starter and ranks in the top 10 in Division III history in career passing yards (eighth with 12,708) and career passing touchdowns (fifth with 144). Hnatkowsky led Muhlenberg to three consecutive trips to the NCAA Division III quarterfinals, including a berth in the 2019 Final Four.

Unlike Palladino, Hnatkowsky got to spend a season with his successor. Repetti played sparingly as a freshman in 2021 while Hnatkowsky was earning All-America honors.

“Joey was super talented as a freshman and worked his tail off,” says Hnatkowsky. “I think it is cool when you can kind of project who’s going to be next and to live up to the hype that Nick had, and Joey’s really keeping this train rolling.”

Repetti, a business administration major, started every game as a sophomore in 2022, becoming the first player to lead Muhlenberg in passing yards and rushing yards in the same season since 1971. Starting only three years won’t give Repetti the opportunity to approach the numbers amassed by his two predecessors, but the opportunity to spend one season as Hnatkowsky’s understudy has proved beneficial.

“The records, they really don’t mean anything to me. I just try my best each and every game and the numbers kind of fall into place,” he says.

As of press time, Repetti had led the Mules to a 6-0 start and a national top-20 ranking in 2023. He was named CC player of the week twice in the first five games and rated fourth in Division III in passing efficiency.

So who will be the next record-setting Muhlenberg quarterback?

“I guess we’ll find out down the road,” says Repetti. “We’ve got good guys in the program now. It could be a recruit. But I hope I can give everything to this guy. He can take whatever he wants from me, and hopefully he continues the success of Muhlenberg College football.

“It’s a great culture here we’ve built at Muhlenberg, and being the starting quarterback here means you can lead a really good football team. It’s a great place to play.”