Box Score

CARLISLE, Pa. – The Gettysburg College football team dropped a 23-13 decision at Dickinson College in Centennial Conference football action Friday evening at Biddle Field in the battle for the Little Brown Bucket.

The Red Devils (4-5, 4-4 CC), who won the Bucket for the second year in a row, scored 20 points off turnovers. Sophomore quarterback Cole Ahnell rushed for 158 yards and a touchdown and also passed for a TD for Dickinson.

Gettysburg (6-3, 5-3 CC) made it a 23-13 game when senior quarterback Kody Smith ran for a 4-yard touchdown run with 7:22 left. However, Dickinson salted the game away on the next possession, holding the ball for nearly five minutes before turning it over on downs deep in Gettysburg territory.

Smith threw for 130 yards and one touchdown while also rushing for 55 yards and a TD. Junior linebacker Cody DiAmore led all players with a career-high 15 tackles to go with a forced fumble and a fumble recovery while senior linebacker Larry DelViscio made 13 stops. Senior defensive end Chris Nolan added a career-high 10 tackles while freshman linebacker Kodie McNamara also contributed nine hits.

Dickinson never trailed after scoring quickly on its first two possessions. After forcing a three-and-out on the game's opening drive, the Devils received a short punt at the Bullet-33. Facing a third-and-one, Dickinson recovered a bad snap at the Gettysburg-22, but Adam Kaminski came on to kick a 39-yard field goal, giving the hosts a 3-0 lead with 11:25 on the first-quarter clock.

Gettysburg fumbled on its second play of the ensuing drive, and Dickinson took over at the Bullet-18. Three plays later, Ahnell took a quarterback keeper seven yards into the end zone, and a missed extra point made it 9-0 with 9:46 remaining in the first quarter.

Later in the quarter, the Bullets appeared to have pinned Dickinson deep in its own territory, coming up with a stop at the Red Devil-16. However, a 69-yard punt from Kaminski sent the Bullets back to their own 15-yard line, and they would go on to punt.

Gettysburg forced a three-and-out to end the first quarter, and on the first play of the second period, Smith connected with a wide-open Aden Twer down the left side. Twer raced in untouched for a 59-yard reception, and freshman Robby Fay's extra point drew the Bullets to within 9-7.

Neither team was able to generate much offense for the remainder of the quarter, which featured four punts, one interception, and one turnover on downs. The Red Devils moved to the Gettysburg-35 late in the half, but were stopped on downs following an incomplete pass.

The two sides traded fumbles to start the second half. Dickinson nearly drove to the red zone on the opening drive of the half but coughed it up at the Bullet-20, with DelViscio forcing the fumble and DiAmore making the recovery. However, the Bullets gave the ball back on the next play on a failed handoff exchange. Dickinson took over at the 19, and four plays later Shawn Wilson took an option-pitch right and trotted in from five yards out to push Dickinson's lead to 16-7 with 7:34 to go in the third quarter.

Gettysburg turned it over again four plays into their next drive, losing the ball during a reception. The Devils started at their own 39 and went on to move 61 plays on 10 yards. After eight straight running plays, Ahnell found Matt Wood in the back of the end zone for a 4-yard touchdown reception on third-and-goal as Dickinson pushed its advantage to 23-7 with 50 seconds left in the quarter.

The Bullet offense put together its longest drive midway through the fourth quarter, going 87 yards on 16 plays while converting four third downs along the way. Smith capped the four-and-a-half-minute march with his rushing touchdown, but his two-point conversion pass fell incomplete.

Dickinson then went to the ground on 10 straight plays, chewing 4:56 off the clock. Ahnell came up just shy of the first-down marker on fourth-and-6, and the Bullets took over at the Dickinson-21. But Gettysburg managed just one yard over the next four plays and the Red Devils were able to run out the final 2:03 after taking over on downs.

The Bullets conclude their season next Saturday, when they host Franklin & Marshall College at 1 p.m. on Senior Day.

Notes: Smith has now rushed for more touchdowns in a season (11) than any quarterback in team history…His TD run also marked the team's 34th rushing touchdown this season, a school record…With his touchdown pass, Smith pulled into a tie for second with Dennis Flaherty '01 for career TD passes (33) at Gettysburg…DelViscio pulled into a tie with Tim Widdoes '10 for fifth in school history in career tackles (312)…He also become just the third player in school history to exceed 200 career solo tackles, pushing his total to 205.