Former Allentown High School star Nick Palladino is having a great year quarterbacking the Muhlenberg College football team. The ex-Redbird has twice been named the Centennial Conference Player of the Week, and he has led Muhlenberg to an 8-1 record. COURTESY OF MUHLENBERG COLLEGE I magine a college quarterback throwing his first 195 passes of a football season without an interception.
It seems unimaginable, but former Allentown High School quarterback Nick Palladino reached that figure after six games for Muhlenberg College’s football team. The sophomore was finally picked off on his first throw of the seventh game of the season when the ball went through the hands of his receiver and was grabbed by a defender.
Palladino has only two interceptions in nine games out of 307 attempts. He has completed 204 passes — a school season record — for 2,367 yards, 21 touchdowns and a soaring 152.48 efficiency rating.
“People were talking of me like [University of Oregon quarterback Marcus] Mariota,” Palladino said with a laugh. He realizes avoiding interceptions involves making good decisions, not forcing the pass and having receivers either catch the ball or shield it from defenders looking to make a pick. And there are also the linemen, who stay on their blocks to give Palladino the right time.
“It’s a testament to the guys running the routes, and I have a security blanket in tight end Mike Long,” Palladino said. “As for the offensive line, I can’t ask for more.”
Palladino set two school records as he steered the Mules to a 41-27 victory over Ursinus College to keep his team alive in the Centennial Conference race behind Johns Hopkins University. Muhlenberg, which has won five straight and is 8-1 overall (7-1 in the conference), can tie for the title with a victory at Moravian College on Nov. 15 and a Johns Hopkins loss to the last place team in the league. Ursinus (6-3 overall, 5-3 conference) was looking to move into a two-way tie for second place.
Palladino’s two school records in that game were his 204 completions for the season and throwing more than 300 yards for the third straight game. He threw for a career high 375 yards and completed 32 passes — one short of the school singlegame record — out of 44 attempts. Four passes were for touchdowns, three of which came in the second quarter when Muhlenberg took control. He threw for 373 yards two weeks ago against Juniata College.
Palladino earned the Centennial Conference Player of the Week award for the second time in three weeks.
Palladino’s 2,367 yards ties for second on the Mules’ all-time single-season list, leaving him 193 yards away from the school record. Overall, he’s seventh on the all-time career yardage list. His 21 touchdown passes are five short of the school record. He leads the Centennial
Conference in touchdown passes, completions, completion percentage (.664) and fewest interceptions (two).
He has also rushed for 170 yards on 69 carries and four touchdowns.
He had eight interceptions last year, when he completed 166 of 274 passes for 2,011 yards and 14 touchdowns. Muhlenberg was 8-3 overall and 7-2 in the conference.
Against Ursinus, Palladino completed scoring passes of 7 yards to Nick Lamb toward a 10-0 lead and 29 yards to Mike Harris toward a 17-6 advantage. He closed out the first half with a 9-yard scoring strike to Long for a 24-10 edge. In the third quarter, he threw his second scoring strike to Lamb for 36 yards.
“I think we’ve been playing our best ball of late,” Palladino said. “We’re finally starting to click.”
But it starts with him.
“Our offense is clicking because of him,” Muhlenberg coach Mike Donnelly said. “Nick’s progress has been very solid. He was excellent last year and has stepped up his execution and knowledge. He is very, very smart and has a full understanding of what our offense is trying to do. He’s been nothing but a pleasure to see — no sophomore slump.”
Donnelly said it is rooted in an intangible.
“The one area he hasn’t improved is in competitiveness, and that’s because I don’t know if you can go any higher. Nick is a very competitive, driven athlete, and that’s really what makes him special,” Donnelly said.
Palladino said the key is slowing the game down.
“I try to get it as slow as possible, and then I play as quick as possible but not hurry, which was instilled in me back in high school,” he said.
Despite speeding up his play, he has not committed many mistakes. And it may not be over after Nov. 15 if the Mules get a playoff bid. A year ago, they played Salisbury University, losing, 21-19, in the Eastern College Athletic Conference South Atlantic Regional.