Mueller earns Heart Special Teams Player of the Week for punting performance in win

KANSAS CITY, Mo. - Coming off of their second win of the season, the Clarke University football team received their second individual weekly honor from the Heart of America Athletic Conference on Monday as Brandon Mueller received Special Teams Player of the Week, Heart officials announced.

The Pride earned a 14-7 win over Culver-Stockton University at home last Saturday as Mueller's punting ability played a big part in the CU defense holding the Wildcats to just seven points with the graduate finished with six punts for 238 total yards to average 39.7 yards per punt, a long punt of 58 yards, two fair catches, and pinned CSC inside of their own 20 yard line on three occasions.

Only taking over punting responsibilities in the second half, Mueller's combination of distance, hangtime, and ball placement prevented Culver-Stockton to field any of the punts for returns as the Wildcats second half offense was held to just 54 total yards of offense prior to their final drive of the game.

That final drive started on their own 17 yard line after one of Mueller's punts to finish inside of the Wildcats' 20 as they only had 1:19 to drive the 83 yards as they ran out of time after gaining 42 yards with the Pride defense keeping them in bounds without any timeouts remaining.

This is the second Heart Player of the Week honor handed out to a Clarke football player this season as Mueller joines Mark Edwards IV, who received Defensive Player of the Week following CU's other win this season against Central Methodist.

The Pride will hit the road for two-straight starting this Saturday when they head to Lamoni, Iowa to face Graceland University for a 1:00 p.m. CT kickoff against the Yellowjackets.