Box Score
DANVILLE, Va. – Nick Nocar (Baltimore, MD/Gilman)
scored two second-half touchdowns and the Gettysburg defense held Averett to 135
total yards in a 23-7 non-conference football victory on
Saturday.
Nocar, who scored on runs of 4 and 24 yards, finished
with a team-high 86 of the Bullets’ 327 rushing yards.
John Edgar (Gettysburg, PA/Gettysburg) accounted
for the rest of Gettysburg’s
points, connecting on three first-half field goals of 41,
38 and 29 yards.
Matt Cardillo (Yorktown Heights, NY/Yorktown) rushed
for 75 yards on a team-high 19 carries to help the Bullets
improve to 3-1 for the first time since 1994. Gentris
Bryant (Wilmington, DE/Archmere Acad.) carried six times for 66 yards and made his team’s
only two receptions for 35 yards.
The Gettysburg defense also played a big role in the win, holding the
Cougars (1-1) to seven first downs and 49 rushing yards.
Grant Acker (Howell, NJ/Peddie) recorded a team-best 13 tackles on the day while Pat
Hagner (Owings, MD/Northern)
notched two sacks among his six tackles, forced one fumble
and recovered another.
Averett quarterback Scott Swann completed 15 of
27 passes for 86 yards, but didn’t complete a pass
for more that 12 yards on the afternoon. Kyle Wilson
was the Cougars’ leading rusher with 29 yards on eight
carries.
In a battle of defenses, Edgar and Nocar
provided enough offensive punch to give the Bullets their
first road victory of 2003.
Edgar, who converted his first collegiate field goal
a week ago against Waynesburg, quickly doubled that total
in Saturday’s first 26 minutes. The Gettysburg native
knocked home a career-best 41-yarder to cap an 18-play,
70-yard drive and open the scoring with 1:03 left in the
first quarter, then made it 6-0 with a 38-yard boot with
4:30 left in the first half.
Averett’s defense struck for the home squad’s only touchdown
and lead of the game when Brandon Cantrell returned an interception
28 yards for a 7-6 Cougars advantage with 1:41
remaining in the half.
An old Averett nemesis, however,
handed the momentum right back to the Bullets. Sophomore
Nathan Smith (Milford, NY/Cooperstown), who
scored on a kickoff and a punt return in last year’s
meeting, gathered James Thurnes’
kick at the Gettysburg 6 and raced 79 yards to the Cougar
15 to set up the Bullets’ go-ahead points.
Gettysburg’s drive stalled without a first down, but Edgar
converted a 29-yard field goal to make it a 9-7 game at
the break.
Two long scoring drives and another strong defensive
half sealed the Bullets’ victory.
Clinging to a two-point lead, Gettysburg took over at its own 25 with 6:49 left in the third quarter and marched 75 yards on five
plays to gain some breathing room. On first-and-10 from
the Bullet 48, Mike Schwalb
(Bernardsville, NJ/Pingry School) ripped
off a 48-yard dash to the Averett
4 and Nocar found the end zone on the next play to make it 16-7.
The Cougars moved into Gettysburg territory on each of their next two drives, but a punt
and a failed fourth-down conversion maintained the visitors’
nine-point edge.
Thurnes’ ninth punt of the game pinned the Bullets at their
own 11 with 8:13 left, but Joe Gossweiler
(Florham
Park,
NJ/Hanover Park) marched
the offense 89 yards on six plays for the clinching touchdowns.
Bryant ripped off 30 yards on a misdirection
to the Gettysburg
46 and Cardillo followed with
a 15-yard run up the middle to the Averett
39. Gossweiler added his own 15-yard
run following a timeout and Nocar
capped the drive with a 24-yard touchdown run to make it
23-7 with 5:41 remaining.
The Cougars managed only 16 yards on their final drive,
stalling on their own 43.
Edgar’s three field goals were one shy of the program
record of four, kicked by Jim Flynn in 1984.
In addition to his big kick return, Smith also recorded
a sack and recovered a fumble.
Kelvin Hutcheson, the nation’s leading tackler in 2001, recorded a game-high 18 stops
for Averett.
The Bullets are off next Saturday, but return to action
on Oct. 11 at home against McDaniel. Game time is 1 p.m.
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