Game Notes

GETTYSBURG, Pa.  – Gettysburg College and Moravian College will both be aiming to get back in the win column when the Bullets host the Greyhounds during Family Weekend this Saturday, Nov. 1, at Shirk Field at Musselman Stadium.
 
Gettysburg (3-4, 3-3 CC) has dropped its last two contests to a pair of teams vying for the Centennial Conference championship. Ninth-ranked and unbeaten Johns Hopkins University jumped out to a 21-0 lead in the first quarter against the Bullets on the way to a 37-14 decision last Saturday.
 
"The players responded and we played much better overall in the second half," said Head Coach Barry Streeter, who is in the midst of his 36th season at the helm. "The challenge right now is to refocus and reenergize. We lost two games in a row to two teams that were really good."
 
Streeter and company will host a Moravian (3-4, 2-4 CC) team in similar straits after three consecutive losses. The Greyhounds dropped a 42-12 decision to Franklin & Marshall College last Saturday.  
 
"I expect them to be energized," said Streeter. "They're 3-4, we're 3-4. We're both trying to get ourselves back on track."
 
Gettysburg is 10-2 all-time against Moravian. The Greyhounds scored their first victory over the Bullets in 35 years with a 41-21 decision last fall.
 
The game will be played amidst Family Weekend festivities on the Gettysburg campus. The Bullets have played well in front of the home crowd this season, averaging 36.7 points and 483.3 total yards per game this season, and the added incentive of having family and friends in the audience could be just what the team needs to grab a victory as it heads into the final weeks of the season.
 
"The motivation is to finish well," said Streeter. "The month of November is a good month. It's an exciting month. We need to get ourselves back on track this game and then we have two big rivals."
 
OPENING KICKOFF
Gettysburg and Moravian try to end their respective losing skids and get back in the win column this weekend at Shirk Field at Musselman Stadium.
 
GAME COVERAGE
Saturday's game will feature live stats and live video thanks to the Orange and Blue Club and service provider Stretch Internet. You can follow along on your computer or mobile device at http://portal.stretchinternet.com/gettysburg/.
 
THE COACHES
Barry Streeter enters his 36th season at the helm of Gettysburg's football program. Streeter is the longest-tenured active coach in Division III and his 181 wins place him seventh among active coaches. Streeter has led Gettysburg to three Centennial Conference championships (1983-85) and he has twice been named CC Coach of the Year. In 1985, he led the Bullets to the only undefeated regular season in school history (9-0-1) and an appearance in the national semifinals.
 
Jeff Pukszyn is in his fourth season as head coach of the Greyhounds. Pukszyn served as an assistant coach at Moravian prior to assuming head duties. He has already topped his previous best win total this fall and he enters the game with a 9-28 career mark.
 
THE SERIES
Gettysburg and Moravian first met on the gridiron in 1978. After a 17-7 victory for the Greyhounds, the Bullets won the next 10 match ups, including the first six when Moravian joined the Centennial Conference in 2007. The Greyhounds picked up their first win in the series in 35 years with a 41-21 decision last season to bring the all-time record to 10-2 in favor of Gettysburg.
 
LAST MEETING
Moravian out-scored Gettysburg 20-7 in the second half on the way to a 41-21 decision at Rocco Calvo Field last fall. The Bullets opened the afternoon with a 62-yard touchdown pass from Zach Miller (Madison, Conn./Daniel Hand) to Aden Twer '14 on the first play from scrimmage. The Greyhounds answered with a touchdown run by Chris Negron later in the quarter before tacking on two more scores in the second period. A run by Fred Caruso (Sinking Spring, Pa./Holy Name) sliced the lead to 21-14 at halftime. Two rushing scores would give Moravian a 20-point advantage (34-14) at the end of the third quarter.

- Moravian piled up 424 yards on the ground and out-gained Gettysburg 508-459 in total offense. The Greyhounds were 8-of-13 on third-down conversions and scored on all five of their red zone opportunities.
- Miller finished with 279 yards of total offense after throwing for 221 and running for 58. Kyle Wigley (Medford, N.J./Shawnee) piled up 98 yards and a touchdown on 16 carries, while Twer finished with 72 yards on three catches. Sophomore Chris Miller (Manasquan, N.J./Manasquan) led the defense with a dozen tackles.
- Negron and quarterback Robbie Moyer each finished with over 150 yards rushing for Moravian. Negron totaled 251 yards and a pair of touchdowns on 37 carries, while Moyer logged 159 yards and two scores on 30 carries. Moyer also threw for 84 yards and one score. Anthony Orlando led the defense with 15 tackles, including three tackles for a loss and one sack. 

LAST TIME OUT
Ninth-ranked Johns Hopkins scored on its first three possessions and jumped out to a 34-0 lead at halftime on the way to a 37-14 victory over Gettysburg last Friday. The Blue Jays converted on a pair of pass plays totaling 85 yards for their first two scores before scoring on a 15-yard run to grab a 21-0 lead after the first quarter. The Bullets held the hosts to just a field goal and 122 total yards of offense in the second half. The ground game founds its groove in the second half as junior Kyle Wigley posted scoring runs of 27 and 40 yards. Johns Hopkins finished with a 490 yards of total offense compared to 287 for the Bullets. Gettysburg totaled 210 yards rushing with Wigley netting 131 on 12 carries. Junior Dan Ciemniecki (Haddonfield, N.J./Haddonfield) totaled 11 tackles. 
 
SCOUTING MORAVIAN
Moravian was held to a season-low 72 yards rushing in a 42-12 loss to Franklin & Marshall last weekend. The Diplomats jumped out to a 28-0 lead and piled up 525 yards of total offense, including 303 on the ground. Chris Negron was held in check with 35 yards rushing on 15 carries, while Eli Redmond managed 30 yards on seven carries. Mike Hayes completed 14-of-30 passes for 179 yards and one touchdown. Ricky Sinnig paced the Moravian defense with 10 tackles.

-Moravian ranks fourth in the conference with 202.7 yards rushing per game. The Greyhounds have gone for over 200 yards rushing four times this season, including a season-high 278 against Dickinson.
- Chris Negron and Eli Redmond each rank among the top seven in the conference in rushing. Negron rates fourth with 92 yards per game and has scored six touchdowns, while Redmond is seventh with 76.3 yards per game. Negron rushed for a season-high 202 yards on 31 carries against Susquehanna.
- Moravian's defense is tied for third in the conference with 15 takeaways. Junior Jimmy McCarthy has accounted for four of those takeaways on interceptions and he is currently tied for the conference lead. Kevin Bracken paces the Greyhounds with 52 tackles, while John Snyder and Andrew Richmond have each totaled three tackles for a loss. 

GETTYSBURG OFFENSE
Gettysburg ranks third in the Centennial Conference in both total offense (400.7 ypg) and rushing (229.4 ypg). The Bullets have posted 200 or more yards five times this fall, including a season-high 323 against Susquehanna. The Bullets rank second in the conference with 163 first downs.
 
- Senior quarterback Zach Miller was held without a passing or rushing touchdown for the first time in his career as a starter against Johns Hopkins. He has posted 1,305 yards of total offense and 14 total touchdowns this season. He ranks fourth in school history with 3,693 passing yards and needs just 50 to pass Kody Smith '13 for third.
- Junior Kyle Wigley leads the ground attack with 509 yards on 83 carries (6.1 ypc) with four touchdowns. His 40-yard dash against Johns Hopkins was his longest scoring run of the season. Wigley enters the weekend 19th in program history with 1,364 yards.
- Senior Fred Caruso ranks second in the conference in all-purpose yardage at 131.3 yards per game. He paces the Bullets in receiving yards (256), kick return yards (312), and punt return yards (130). He has posted 100 or more all-purpose yards in four of seven games this season. His 1,240 career receiving yards rank eighth in school history and he is 93 shy of Ken Snyder '65. 

GETTYSBURG DEFENSE
Gettysburg ranks second in the conference in rushing defense with only 112.7 yards allowed per game this fall. The Bullets have allowed only seven rushing touchdowns and have held opposing rushers to just 3.0 yards per carry. Gettysburg has climbed to fourth in the conference with 16 sacks and the squad rates fourth overall in total defense at 363.9 yards per game.

- Junior Kodie McNamara (Manasquan, N.J./Manasquan) leads the Bullets and ranks seventh in the conference with 53 tackles. McNamara, who led the CC in tackles with 119 in 2013, has reached double-figure tackles twice this season.
- Junior Dan Ciemniecki leads the team with 30 solo tackles. He has posted 41 tackles overall this season and he returned his lone interception 49 yards for a touchdown in the season opener against Bridgewater.
- Sophomore Chris Miller (Manasquan, N.J./Manasquan) has emerged as one of the team's most versatile defenders. Miller has totaled 37 tackles to go with three sacks, eight tackles for a loss, two interceptions, and a fumble recovery. Miller picked off passes in back-to-back games against Susquehanna and McDaniel. 

GETTYSBURG SPECIAL TEAMS
- Sophomore Garrett Long (Mechanicsburg, Pa./Cumberland Valley) has connected on all 18 of his extra point attempts, tying him for the conference lead in extra-point percentage. He's nailed 3-of-5 field goals with a season-long of 37 against Susquehanna. Long is also averaging 57.1 yards on kickoffs.
- Junior Robby Fay (New Providence, N.J./New Providence) ranks fifth in the conference with 36.6 yards per punt. He's placed 10 punts inside the opponent's 20 yard-line and his long for the season was a 64-yard boomer against Johns Hopkins. He averaged 40.4 yards over nine punts against the Blue Jays. 

HOME SWEET HOME
Gettysburg has enjoyed the friendly confines of Shirk Field this season. In three games at home, the Bullets are averaging 36.7 points, 276 yards rushing, and 483.3 total yards of offense per game this season. The defense has allowed only 90 yards rushing in those contests as well as forcing eight turnovers. Dating back to last season's home finale against Dickinson, Gettysburg has out-scored its opponents 152-64 over the last four home contests.
 
ON THE HORIZON
The Bullets are focused on this week's contest with Moravian, but looming in the final weeks of the season as the Orange and Blue's biggest rivalry games. Next weekend Gettysburg will head north to Carlisle to battle Dickinson College for the Little Brown Bucket. It will be the 80th meeting in a series that dates back to 1892. Gettysburg holds a 42-35-2 edge in the series and won last season's meeting 42-7. Gettysburg's regular-season finale will feature the 100th game with Franklin & Marshall College on Nov. 14. It is Gettysburg's longest-standing rivalry and dates back to 1890. This year, the two teams will try to win the rights to the Lincoln Trophy which will be handed out for the first time. The series is even at 46-46-7, but Gettysburg has won each of the last four meetings at Shirk Field.