Box Score

GETTYSBURG, Pa. – Gettysburg rushed for 270 yards and scored all four of its touchdowns on the ground as the Bullets pulled away late to earn their first home and Centennial Conference victory of the season, defeating Moravian College 33-21 Saturday afternoon at Shirk Field at Musselman Stadium.

Gettysburg (2-3, 1-3 CC), which never trailed after jumping to a 16-0 lead, received 64 rushing yards and a career-high three touchdowns from senior tailback Anthony DeSalva while senior tailback Jamel Mutunga led all players with 82 yards rushing and one touchdown.

Moravian (2-4, 2-3 CC) outscored the Bullets 21-7 spanning the second and third quarters to cut the deficit to 23-21 with 7:08 left after a 68-yard touchdown pass from sophomore Matt Johnson to senior receiver Shawn Sylvaninus. But the Greyhounds were outscored 10-0 in the fourth quarter.

Johnson threw for 270 yards and a pair of touchdowns on 14-of-28 passing while running for 64 yards and a TD. Senior Alex Hersch caught five passes for 84 yards, and Sylvaninus finished with three catches for 95 yards.

Senior wing Charles Curcio caught three passes for 16 yards for Gettysburg and became just the fourth player in school history to reach 100 career receptions and the first since Chris Notarfrancesco, the school's career receptions leader with 130, did it in 1994. Curcio also rushed for a season-high 65 yards on eight carries.

Junior Kyle Whitmoyer threw for 139 yards on 10-of-19 passing while rushing for 62 yards on 19 carries for the Bullets.

Senior kicker Mike Barrett nailed two field goals for the third straight week, and he's now made his last six in a row.

The Bullets outgained the Greyhounds 409-400.

Gettysburg never trailed after Barrett kicked a 21-yard field goal on the Bullets second possession. For the second week in a row, DeSalva opened the game with a long kick return, this time peeling off a 49-yarder. DeSalva took back his other kick return 52 yards to finish with 101 return yards.

The Bullets capitalized on a blocked punt by junior George Schmidt late in the first quarter to score their first touchdown of the game. Schmidt's block was recovered by sophomore Chris Nolan at the Moravian-7, and two plays later DeSalva ran it in from 9 yards out as Gettysburg took a 10-0 lead on the final play of the quarter.

DeSalva found paydirt again midway through the second quarter, this time on a 1-yard plunge. The 82-yard drive was highlighted by a 19-yard run from Curcio on third-and-2 and a 34-yard completion from Whitmoyer to sophomore Kyle Davis to the Greyhound-1. Barrett's extra point was blocked, making it 16-0.

Moravian cut the deficit to 16-7 at the half when Johnson found sophomore receiver Ryan Onushco for a 7-yard TD strike with 2:40 on the clock. Johnson kept the drive going with a 17-yard run to the Bullet-11 on a fourth-and-4.

After passing for just 77 yards on 6-of-14 passing in the first half, Johnson aired it out for 193 yards on 8-of-14 passing in the second stanza, which saw a team score on each of the first three possessions. On the opening drive, Johnson had completions of 28 and 27 yards on third downs before diving in from 1 yard out to make it 16-14 with 10:27 on the clock.

The Bullets answered right back on their first possession of the second half, which was capped by a DeSalva 3-yard TD scamper.

The 'Hounds pulled to within two again on Sylvainus's 68-yard scoring grab with 7:08 left in the third quarter. But Moravian was forced to punt on its next two possessions before turning it over on downs on its last drive, when it drove to the Bullet-15. Sophomore linebacker Larry DelViscio put the nail in the coffin when he hit Johnson for a 2-yard loss on a fourth-and-2 at the Bullet-15 with 2:44 left in the game.

Gettysburg was then able to run out the remainder of the clock, converting a pair of third downs, one on a Moravian unsportsmanlike conduct penalty and another on a Whitmoyer 4-yard run.

The Bullets put the game away with a Barrett 36-yard field goal on the first play of the fourth quarter and a Mutunga 5-yard touchdown run with 6:48 remaining. The Greyhounds hurt themselves during the two drives with three personal-foul penalties that accounted for 45 yards and three first downs.

Junior safety David Wacker led all players with 11 tackles while DelViscio posted seven tackles, including 2.5 for loss, for the Bullets.

Gettysburg plays another Centennial Conference game next Saturday, when it visits Juniata College at 1 p.m.