Box Score

ALLENTOWN, Pa. – Gettysburg rallied from 11 points down with 7:15 left to send the game to overtime, but Muhlenberg College recovered to pull out a 33-27 victory in see-saw Centennial Conference football game Saturday afternoon on a gorgeous day at Scott Wood Stadium.

Senior Mike Barrett kicked a 24-yard field goal with nine seconds left to force overtime for Gettysburg (1-2, 0-2 CC), which led 16-6 early in the second half before Muhlenberg (2-1, 2-0 CC) answered with 21 unanswered points.

Trailing 27-24 with no timeouts and 46 seconds left, the Bullets were set to receive a punt from their own 44-yard line when the snap sailed well over the punter's head. Senior Greg Namrow forced a fumble on the recovery at the Mule-14, and it was recovered at the 7-yard line by senior Anthony DeSalva. Barrett came on after a DeSalva rush for no yards, a quarterback spike, and an incomplete pass.

In overtime, the Bullets received the ball first, but after a three-yard run from senior Jamel Mutunga, a sack pushed the Bullets back to the Muhlenberg-27, and on the next play, junior Kyle Whitmoyer had his pass picked off by Shane O'Connor. On the Mules first offensive play of the extra session, Dan Deighan found Isaiah Vaughn at the right pylon for a 25-yard touchdown pass, ending the game.

Senior wing Charles Curcio led the Bullets offensively, tying a career-high with seven receptions for 69 yards and a touchdown while rushing for an additional 44 yards on eight carries. DeSalva led the Bullets with 49 yards rushing and returned a pair of kickoffs for 62 yards while Whitmoyer finished with 162 yards on 17-of-28 passing.

Muhlenberg, which outgained Gettysburg 421-307, received 124 yards rushing from Terrence Dandridge. Deighan threw for 208 yards and two touchdowns on 18-of-30 passing while running for an additional score.

Junior linebacker Peter Hak led all players with 12 tackles while junior safety Joe Delaney made 11 stops. Junior linebacker Marc Graziano contributed 10 hits.

“We were able to stay focused regardless of what was happening,” said Gettysburg head coach Barry Streeter. “We just kept believing. There was plenty of time when we were down two scores. Unfortunately there were some plays to be made that didn't get made.”

The Bullets defense showed great resolve in the opening half, yielding only six points despite allowing Muhlenberg to advance into Gettysburg territory on all six of the Mules drives. After the hosts punted on their first possession, Gettysburg came up with a big stop late in the first quarter, stopping J.T. Merklinger, who rushed for 73 yards and a touchdown, at the line of scrimmage on fourth-and-1 at the Bullet-33. In the meantime, Gettysburg also started slowly, as the Bullets punted or turned it over on downs on their first four drives.

A trick play kick-started the Mule offense when Vaughn took a reverse and blasted 17 yards down the left sideline to the Bullet-39. Two plays later, Dandridge ripped off a 27-yard run to give Muhlenberg a first-and-goal at the 8 before Deighan hit tight end Steve Liparini with a 2-yard touchdown pass on third down. But Hak blocked his second extra point in as many weeks, and the Mules led 6-0 with 11:18 left in the half.

Gettysburg responded with a 14-play, 69-yard drive – which was aided by a pair of Muhlenberg penalties that led to first downs – to capture the lead. Curcio came up big on the march, taking three pitchouts for 30 yards before hauling in a 2-yard touchdown pass from Mutunga, who took a handoff before rolling to his right and finding Curcio open on the right side of the end zone. Barrett's extra point made it 7-6 with 5:44 showing.

Muhlenberg punted into the end zone with 1:42 left before the Bullets drove 53 yards on seven plays. The drive was highlighted by a 19-yard catch over the middle by Curcio that perched Gettysburg at the Mule-32. Four plays later, Barrett came on to nail a career-long 44-yard field, just clearing the crossbar to give the Bullets a 10-6 halftime advantage.

The Mules managed to put themselves into scoring position on the next-to-last play of the half, using a hook-and-ladder to move to the Bullet-36 with 1.1 seconds left. But senior defensive end Matt Coffey came up with a sack on the final play of the period.

Gettysburg forced Muhlenberg to go three-and-out on the opening drive of the second half, then went 82 yards on 11 plays to open up a 16-6 advantage. DeSalva ate up 26 yards on the ground during the drive and also caught a 16-yard pass to open the possession. Whitmoyer capped it by throwing his first collegiate touchdown pass, finding sophomore Kyle Davis in the back of the end zone from four yards out with 9:55 left in the third quarter. The catch marked Davis' first collegiate TD reception. Barrett's extra point was no good.

Muhlenberg went on to score on three of their next five drives en route to their 21-0 run. Three different Mules ran for a touchdown during the stretch, starting with a 2-yard plunge from Dandridge with 5:24 left in the third quarter. Early in the fourth quarter, Deighan capped another scoring drive by completing three straight passes, including one on fourth-and-five from the Bullet-37, before running it in himself from 15 yards to put the Mules on top 20-16 with 12:58 remaining. Merklinger capped the run with a 10-yard scoring jaunt with 7:15 to go following an eight-play, 79-yard drive that included a 26-yard run from Dandridge.

After its initial scoring drive of the second half, the Bullets offense went stagnant, going three-and-out on their next three possessions. But Whitmoyer and DeSalva would spark a rally on the Bullets next drive, when Whitmoyer went 3-for-3 for 30 yards and ran for a 13-yard carry and DeSalva accounted for 30 total yards, including a 17-yard pickup on a shovel pass that set up Gettysburg at the Muhlenberg-18. Whitmoyer was tackled just shy of the goal line on his rush, but two plays later DeSalva punched it in from a yard out. Whitmoyer then connected with Namrow on a two-point conversion to make it 27-24 with 5:00 showing.

Muhlenberg nearly salted the game away in regulation, picking up two first downs and forcing the Bullets to use both of their final timeouts. But on a third-and-three, Hak and Graziano combined to stop Dandridge short of the first down and forcing the game-changing punt.

Gettysburg returns to action next Saturday, when it hosts Ursinus College at 1 p.m. in another Centennial Conference affair during Homecoming.