Box Score

ANNVILLE, Pa. – Safety Andrew Shambach broke up a potential game-winning touchdown pass in the end zone with seven seconds left, and Gettysburg was unable to recover from a 19-0 deficit in a 19-13 non-conference loss at Lebanon Valley College on a rain-soaked, wind-swept Arnold Field in the season opener for both teams.

Not only was the game played mostly through a driving rain due to the remnants of Tropical Storm Hanna, but it also featured a pair of 30-minute lightning delays, with the second one halting play with 3:38 left in the game and the Flying Dutchmen clinging to a six-point lead.

With the setback, Gettysburg has now lost three straight season-openers at Lebanon Valley since 2004.

Junior tailback Charlie Parker rushed for 128 yards and one touchdown on 34 carries to lead LVC. He also caught an 82-yard touchdown pass.

Gettysburg junior quarterback Matt Flynn (Northfield, N.J./Mainland Regional) nearly led the Bullets to a dramatic game-winning drive, taking his team from his own 5-yard line to the LVC-25 in the final minute. However, his final four passes fell incomplete in the end zone, and the Dutchmen were able to run take a knee to run off the final seven seconds.

The Bullets began their final drive with 1:29 left and no timeouts. Flynn hit sophomore receiver Brian Betley (Mt. Laurel, N.J./Lenape) with a 42-yard bomb to down the left sideline on third-and-10, giving the Bullets the ball near midfield. He then found junior wing Michael McInerney (Hasbrouck Heights, N.J./St. Joseph) over the middle for a 19-yard gain as Gettysburg suddenly was within striking distance. On the next play, Betley nearly came up with a diving catch on the right side of the end zone, but the pass was ruled to have hit the ground. After two more incomplete passes – one to Betley and one to sophomore Gavin Jablonski (Allenwood, N.J./Wall) – Flynn took one final shot at Betley in the left side of the end zone only to have it knocked away by Shambach.

Flynn went 13-for-29 for 170 yards and one touchdown and moved into second on the school's all-time passing yardage list, surpassing Jim Ward '67. With 3,251 yards, he now trails only Dennis Flaherty '01 (5,136) on the all-time list.

Senior Nick McConnell (Lebanon, Pa./Cedar Crest) led the Bullets on the ground with a career-high 73 yards on 14 carries while Betley caught three passes for 77 yards.

The wet conditions put a damper on both team's offense in the early going, with the two teams gaining a total of two first downs in the opening quarter. The first occurred when, on their first possession, the Bullets took a gamble and converted a fourth-and-1 from their own 27 on a two-yard run from Flynn. However, the drive stalled from there, and Gettysburg went three-and-out on its next possession. The opening quarter ended with the scoreboard reading 0-0.

The Bullet offense received a spark in the second quarter, when junior wing Ricky Manigat (Baldwin, N.Y./Baldwin) took a pass from Flynn, made a nice spin move on the left sideline, and raced downfield for a 34-yard gain to the LVC-21. But after a short run and a pair of incomplete passes, senior Josh Huson (McLean, Va./McLean) had his 37-yard field goal sail wide left with 11:07 left in the opening half.

The Dutchmen responded with several big passing plays to get on the scoreboard. On a third-and-12 from the LVC-18, Parker took a short pass from Fick on the far sideline, broke a tackle, and sprinted 82 yards into the end zone with 10:04 on the clock. Brittany Ryan's extra point made it 7-0.

Following a Gettysburg punt, two passes from quarterback Caleb Fick to Matt Donley led to another Dutchman score. Donley pulled in a 37-yard pass to set up the Dutchmen at the Bullet-39, and four plays later, he made a leaping grab in the end zone with 3:53 left in the half. Ryan's extra point was blocked by  junior Sean Beirne (Ventnor, N.J./Atlantic City).

The Bullets appeared to have something going just before the end of the half following an 18-yard pass from senior tight end David Rodriguez (Fort Belvoir, Va./Bishop Ireton) to sophomore wing Charles Curcio (Hammonton, N.J./St. Joseph) on a fake punt put Gettysburg at the LVC-27. However, Lebanon Valley thwarted the drive with a minute left before the half, when, on a third-and -13, Dane Eichelberger picked off a Flynn pass headed for the end zone.

Fick finished the first half with 148 yards on just three completions. For the game he went 8-for-16 for 188 yards.

After an extended 30-minute halftime (due to the first lightning delay), the Bullets received the second-half kickoff, but Eichelberger made his second interception of the game on Gettysburg's second play from scrimmage, setting up the Dutchmen at Gettysburg's 24. Another big Fick-to-Donley play – a 13-yard, first-down completion on third-and-4 – gave LVC the ball at the Bullet-5. Two plays later, Parker ran it in from the right side, and after a failed two-point conversion it was 19-0 with 12:13 showing.

Gettysburg came right back with its best drive of the game up to that point, going 59 yards on 10 plays, highlighted by a 4-yard touchdown run from Manigat on a pitch-out right. Gettysburg converted two third-downs along the way on a 9-yard run from McConnell and an 8-yard Manigat carry.

The Bullets then picked up a break when a high snap on a punt gave Gettysburg the ball at the Dutchman-21. Then on a third-and-16, Flynn found a wide-open Betley in the end zone. The Bullets were unable to get down the hold on the extra point, and Huson's line-drive attempt was wide-left, making it 19-13 with 3:36 left in the third quarter.

Gettysburg came up with a big stop on Lebanon Valley's next drive, but then gave the ball away on a turnover. On a fourth-and-2 at the Bullet-30, a Fick rush was stuffed by Beirne. But the Dutchmen regained possession when Tim Ridewood recovered a botched pitch-out at the Gettysburg-46. The turnover spoiled a spectacular play by Flynn two plays earlier, when he spun away from a host of defenders and hit Betley with a lunging shovel pass for a first down.

The Dutchmen threatened to score again, marching to the Bullet-2, but junior linebacker Joe Anthes (Hopatcong, N.J./Hopatcong) halted the drive with his second career interception, picking off a pass in the end zone with 8:16 left.

After driving 28 yards to the Gettysburg-48, the Bullets were forced to punt, and a Betley boot bounced into the end zone for a touchback.

Lebanon Valley took over with 4:53 left, and the Dutchmen chewed up over three minutes of the clock over an eight-play, 47-yard drive in which Parker accounted for all but two yards and all three first downs. The drive was interrupted after his 15-yard carry gave LVC a first down at the Gettysburg-44, and play resumed a half hour later.

Facing a fourth-and-8 at the Gettysburg-33, the Dutchmen elected to punt, and Colt Zarilla's pooch kick died at the Bullet-5, setting up Gettysburg's stirring comeback attempt.

Defensively, sophomore tackle Sebastian Sullivan (Harrisburg, Pa./Bishop McDevitt) and senior linebacker Dean Staley (Hagerstown, Md./North Hagerstown) led the Bullets with a career-high nine tackles apiece.

Betley averaged 40.8 yards on five punts.

The Bullets play their home opener next Saturday, when they take on Hampden-Sydney College at 1 p.m. in another non-conference showdown.