Box Score

LANCASTER, Pa. – Gettysburg rushed for a season-high 385 yards and the Bullets closed their season on a high note, toppling Franklin & Marshall College 28-14 in a Centennial Conference (CC) game Saturday afternoon at a sunny Sponaugle-Williamson Field.

Junior tailback Ted Delia rushed for 156 yards and one touchdown as Gettysburg (6-4, 6-3 CC) finished the year tied with Ursinus College for third place in the CC standings, tying the team's best conference finish since 2007.

The Bullets, who were also 6-4 last year, put together back-to-back winning seasons for the first time since 1994-95. Gettysburg has won 11 of its last 16 games dating back to last year.

The Orange & Blue outgained the Diplomats (3-7, 3-6 CC) 498-358 and had a pair of scoring drives of over 90 yards, including a 98-yarder. The Bullets' 385 rushing yards were its most since they ran for a school-record 525 yards against Juniata in 2009.

Gettysburg, which never trailed after scoring on its opening drive, also received 86 yards on 10 carries from senior quarterback Kyle Whitmoyer, who also threw a pair of touchdown passes to senior wing John Pesce. Junior quarterback Kody Smith added 65 yards on seven carries while freshman wing Freddy Caruso contributed 58 rushing yards and one touchdown.

Junior linebacker Larry DelViscio made 12 tackles, 2.0 sacks, and recovered a fumble for Gettysburg, which snapped a four-game losing streak at F&M, winning in Lancaster for the first time since 2001.

Junior linebacker Mark Covington added nine tackles for the Bullets while sophomore cornerback Hugo Nolasco came up with a key interception early in the game. Junior defensive end Joe Ventresca also had a pair of sacks while senior safety Peter Hak added a blocked field goal for Gettysburg.

John Harrison threw for 241 yards and a touchdown on 22-of-35 passing for the Diplomats (3-7, 3-6 CC). Tim Muller caught nine passes for 109 yards while Lamont Jackson rushed for 98 yards and one touchdown on 11 carries. Brian Velasco led the F&M defense with 11 tackles.

F&M received the opening kickoff but turned it over when DelViscio fell on a botched pitch-out at the Diplomat-20. Four plays later, Pesce made a tremendous catch on a fade to the left corner of the end zone, just staying in bounds on pass from Whitmoyer to make it 7-0 with 9:39 left in the opening quarter.

The Dips answered with the first 90-plus-yard drive of the game. F&M needed just six plays to go 94 yards, with Jackson capping the march on a 7-yard touchdown to pull the hosts even with 6:55 on the clock.

Gettysburg was intercepted on its third play of its next possession, and F&M took over at the Bullet-47. But with the Diplomats threatening inside the 5-yard line, Nolasco made perhaps the play of the game, stepping in front of a Harrison pass at the Gettysburg-2.

The Bullets made the turnover hurt, going 98 yards on just eight plays. Delia extricated Gettysburg from its precarious position, busting out a 47-yard run on the first play of the drive. Caruso put the Bullets in front to stay when he took a pitch left and scored on a 4-yard run to make it 14-7 with 12:34 remaining in the half.

The two sides exchanged punts before Hak swatted away a 34-yard field-goal attempt by Chris DeStefano inside the final minute of the half.

Gettysburg opened the second stanza with an 11-play, 71-yard drive that featured five different Bullets gaining yards. Whitmoyer kept the chains moving with a pair of third-down conversions, coming up with a 15-yard pass to Caruso on third-and-11 and an 8-yard run to the F&M-11 on third-and-1. Whitmoyer then connected with Pesce for an 11-yard touchdown run along the left sideline to make it 21-7 with 11:27 left in the quarter. Pesce finished with four touchdowns over the final two games of his career.

The Diplomats answered on the their first drive of the half, going 60 plays on nine plays with Harrison hitting John Kaschak for a 9-yard touchdown pass to pull F&M to within a touchdown with 6:07 remaining in the third.

The two sides came up empty on each of their next two possessions, with the Dips blocking a 30-yard field goal on the next-to-last play of the third quarter.

A 28-yard punt pinned Gettysburg at its own 6-yard line with 11:21 to play, but the Bullets moved 80 yards on its next two plays. A season-long 47-yard gain by Whitmoyer was followed by a 33-yard gallop from Caruso as the Bullets suddenly found themselves perched at the F&M-14. Four plays later, Delia plowed in from the 1 to make it 28-14 with 9:05 remaining following the fourth extra point of the game from senior Rob Pennella.

Franklin & Marshall threatened on its final drive, moving the Bullet-19. But the Gettysburg defense would hold, as Ventresca sacked Harrison for a 14-yard loss before making a tackle at the Gettysburg-27, forcing a turnover on downs with 6:21 left.

The Bullets iced the game on the ground, rushing 11 times and moving to the F&M-13 before the clock ran out.

Notes: The Bullets went 4-1 on the road for the first time since 1994 …Gettysburg finished the season with a school-record 23 touchdown passes…The Bullets' 2,355 passing yards were second in school history...Gettysburg accumulated 4,609 yards of total offense – third in school history – and set a program record for all-purpose yards (6,216)…Sophomore receiver Aden Twer left the game with an injury after his first reception of the game – a 9-yard gain – and finished the season second in school history with 1,079 receiving yards…He also caught a school-record 12 touchdown passes…Twer's 56 receptions were third in school history…Senior safety Joe Delaney made four tackles to finish sixth in school history with 310 stops…Whitmoyer concluded his career ranked among the top-10 all-time at Gettysburg in completions (seventh, 188), passing yards (eighth, 2,469), and touchdown passes (10th, 17).