Box Score
BETHLEHEM, Pa. – The Gettysburg College football team jumped out to a 24-0 halftime lead at Moravian College behind 118 yards and three touchdowns from senior tailback Tom Sturges (Ridgefield, Conn./Ridgefield), but the hosts came roaring back in the second half with 20 points to cut the margin to just one touchdown. The Bullet defense held its ground, however, stopping the potential game-tying drive with just over a minute remaining in the game to pick up a 27-20 Centennial Conference victory Saturday afternoon at Rocco Calvo Field.
The win gave Gettysburg head coach Barry Streeter his 78th career Centennial Conference victory, making him the all-time winningest coach in conference history. He surpassed former Franklin & Marshall coach Tom Gilburg, who went 77-60-1 from 1983-2002. Streeter has gone 78-79-3 since the inception of the conference in 1983.
After netting a season-high for an opening half, Sturges finished the day with 168 yards on 35 carries as Gettysburg (4-2, 3-1 CC) tallied 222 total yards on the rushing attack. The senior tailback also went over 4,000 all-purpose yards for his career with 59 rushing yards in the first quarter. Freshman running back Charles Curcio (Hammonton, N.J./St. Joseph) put together a productive all-around day, totaling 167 all-purpose yards, including 126 on four kickoff returns.
The opening half was all Bullets as Sturges found the end zone twice in the first quarter at 5:28 and 1:20. Following a Josh Huson (McLean, Va./McLean) field goal at the start of the second quarter, Sturges ran in his third touchdown of the day from four yards out at 2:02. Moravian (4-2, 2-2 CC) had no answer on their side of the ball, totaling just 124 yards and six first downs in the opening 30 minutes.
The Greyhounds finally put some points in the board in the third quarter as Brian Reckenbeil booted a pair of field goals from 33 and 29 yards out, respectively, to cut the margin to 24-6 with 7:12 remaining in the period. Gettysburg upped the margin back to three touchdowns with a 27-yard field goal by Huson with just under four minutes to go in the third.
Moravian began the fourth quarter on Gettysburg's own 21, and the hosts quickly cut the deficit in four plays, capped by a Marc Braxmeier four-yard pass to Sean Hill. The extra point set the margin at a pair of touchdowns (27-13).
Following a three-and-out by the Bullets, Moravian continued to hold the momentum and finished off a five-minute scoring drive with a two-yard rush by Morgan deRouen to bring the score to just 27-20 with 6:24 to play.
Gettysburg burned three minutes off the clock on their next possession, but the drive stalled as the Greyhound defense held firm, making a four-yard tackle for a loss on Sturges, inducing a false start, and finally getting an incomplete pass from Matt Flynn (Northfield, N.J./Mainland Regional).
Sitting on its own nine yard line, Moravian got a 30-yard completion form Braxmeier to Shawn Sylvainus with an additional 15 yards via a face mask penalty to get to the Gettysburg 46. Following a two-yard rush, Braxmeier was sacked by junior Conor Quinn (Rockville, Md./Richard Montgomery) for a loss of two yards. A pair of passes by the Greyhound signal caller were off the mark on third and fourth downs with 1:26 to play and Gettysburg ran out the clock, ending the hosts' comeback bid.
Flynn finished 6-of-13 for 104 yards and two interceptions. Two of his passes found the hands of senior Matt Welsh (Lafayette Hill, Pa./St. Joseph's Prep), who tallied a team-high 39 yards.
For the fourth consecutive game, the Bullet defense did not allow the opposing team to amass over 100 yards rushing. Tim Widdoes (Newark, Del./St. Mark's) and Harold Barton (Somerdale, N.J./Sterling) led the defense with 10 tackles, while Nick Duerr (Turnersville, N.J./Washington Township) picked off a pair of passes. Quinn finished the day with seven tackles, including 2.5 sacks for a loss of 15 yards. Barton and Josh Jerrold (Yardley, Pa./Pennsbury East) each tallied one sack and James Holubowich (Mineola, N.Y./Mineola) added half a sack for Gettysburg, which came into Saturday's contest tied for the conference lead for team sacks.
Braxmeier finished 20-of-30 for 229 yards with two interceptions and one touchdown. His passes went to four different receivers with the top man being Sylvainus, who finished with seven catches for 85 yards. Tyler Hersch reeled in five passes for 69 yards and finished with 195 all-purpose yards, tallying 126 on five kickoff returns.
The only back to generate any consistent yardage on the day for the Greyhounds was deRouen with 80 yards on 10 carries. Andrew Morrissey finished with 10 tackles to lead the defense, including 1.5 for a loss of two yards, while Carl Robinson picked off a pair of Flynn's passes.
Gettysburg returns to action next weekend (October 13) against league newcomer Juniata College. The Centennial Conference match up, which begins at 1 p.m., is part of the Bullets' Homecoming weekend.
