Game Notes

GETTYSBURG, Pa.  – It's not just a circle of mahogany planks held together by silver bands. The Little Brown Bucket means a lot more to the two teams that will venture onto the football field this Saturday when Dickinson College hosts Gettysburg College for the 80th meeting all-time between the schools.
 
The Bucket has traveled the 26-mile route between Gettysburg and Carlisle each year since its creation in 1938. Sometimes it's only a short year-long visit, while other times the Bucket will find a home for nearly a decade. No matter how long it stays on the Gettysburg or Dickinson campus, the Bucket represents an epic confrontation between two long-time rivals.
 
"It's about two teams that don't care about what their records are," said Head Coach Barry Streeter. "This rivalry is special with the bucket. Fortunately we have it here right now, but no one can count on keeping it. You have to fight tooth and nail to keep it."
 
It's been a driving force in a series that dates all the way back to 1892 when the two teams split a pair of contests. Since then, Gettysburg has claimed victory 42 times, while Dickinson has won 35 outings. The teams have also tied twice.
 
After losing the Bucket game six times in the previous seven years, Gettysburg reclaimed the trophy last fall with a 42-7 victory at Shirk Field at Musselman Stadium. This year's contest will take place at Dickinson's Biddle Field, a place where the Bullets have claimed only one win in the last 27 years.
 
"It's a lot of incentive," said Streeter in reference to the Bucket. "The players get excited about playing for it. No question about it. It's going to be a good one."
 
Gettysburg (3-5, 3-4 CC) and Dickinson (3-5, 3-4 CC) enter the weekend sporting identical records. The Bullets have dropped their last three outings, while the Red Devils have rotated wins and losses since opening the season 0-2.
 
"It's a huge rivalry and that's the way we're looking at it," noted Streeter. "I know Dickinson is looking at it that way too. You can count on it being a hard fought game for that old bucket."
 
- Go Bullets –
 
OPENING KICKOFF
Gettysburg and Dickinson will meet for the 80th time on the football field this Saturday at Biddle Field. The winner will take home the Little Brown Bucket.  
 
GAME COVERAGE
Saturday's game will feature live stats and live video courtesy of Dickinson College: http://portal.stretchinternet.com/dickinson/.  
 
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.
 
Darwin Breaux is in his 22nd season at Dickinson. He has compiled a 127-95-1 overall record with the Red Devils, including a 93-64-1 mark in the Centennial Conference. Breaux guided Dickinson to conference titles in each of his first two seasons at the helm (1993, 1994) as well as 2004 and 2006. His teams competed in the NCAA playoffs in 1994 and 2006. Before coming to Dickinson, Breaux was an assistant football coach at Gettysburg and served as the Bullets' head golf and wrestling coach.
 
THE SERIES
Gettysburg and Dickinson have met 79 times on the gridiron since 1892. The Bullets hold a 42-35-2 advantage in the series, but the Red Devils have won 22 of the last 27 contests. Gettysburg is 1-12 in Carlisle since 1987.
 

LAST MEETING
Gettysburg snapped a three-game losing streak with a 42-7 victory over Dickinson last season at Shirk Field at Musselman Stadium. The Bullets busted out to a 28-0 halftime lead and finished the game with 454 yards of total offense compared to 296 for the visiting Red Devils. Wide receiver Aden Twer '14 became the program's all-time leader in receiving yards after fielding five throws for 125 yards. Quarterback Zach Miller (Madison, Conn./Daniel Hand) finished 17-of-23 for 281 yards and a touchdown, while tailback Kyle Wigley (Medford, N.J./Shawnee) carried the ball 18 times for 76 yards and a score. Linebacker Kodie McNamara (Manasquan, N.J./Manasquan) led the defense with 15 tackles, while defensive end Drew Winters (Midlothian, Md./Mountain Ridge) piled up 11 hits and a sack.
 
LAST TIME OUT
Moravian picked up three second-quarter scores on the way to a 34-14 victory over the Bullets at Shirk Field last Saturday. Poised the score at the end of the first half, momentum was stolen away from the hosts as the Greyhounds intercepted a tipped ball in the end zone. Leading 28-14, Moravian sealed the decision with a 12-play, six-minute drive in the fourth quarter. The Greyhounds picked up 240 yards on the ground and out-gained Gettysburg 445-323 in total offense. Junior Kyle Wigley finished with 16 carries for 86 yards, while senior Zach Miller posted 224 yards of total offense and both threw and ran for scores. Senior Gordon Prince (Northfield, N.J./Mainland Regional) recorded a career-high 15 tackles to lead the defense.
 
SCOUTING DICKINSON
Muhlenberg held Dickinson to just 249 yards of total offense in a 34-20 decision last Saturday. The Mules opened with the first three scores of the game and jumped in front 31-7 early in the third quarter. The Red Devils were unable to get their vaunted rushing attack going and managed a season-low 81 yards on 25 carries (3.2 ypc). Senior quarterback Cole Ahnell posted 168 yards passing and three touchdowns, while also adding 48 yards on the ground to lead Dickinson.

- Dickinson enters the weekend as the top rushing team in the Centennial Conference with 220.5 yards per game. Junior Cedric Madden is second in the conference with 98.8 rushing yards per game. He has eclipsed the century mark four times this season, including a season-high 161 yards against Susquehanna.

- Senior QB Cole Ahnell has thrown three touchdowns on three occasions this season. His 20 completions and 29 pass attempts against Muhlenberg were both season highs. Only Juniata's Ward Udinski has posted more rushing attempts (133-127) and rushing yards (484-403) than Ahnell among Centennial quarterbacks.

- Junior Mark Manganaro is tied for the conference lead in passes defended. Manganaro has posted two interceptions and a conference-best nine pass break-ups this season. 

GETTYSBURG OFFENSE
Gettysburg ranks third in the conference in rushing at 219 yards per game. The Bullets sit fourth in total offense at 392.2 yards per game and the team's 22.2 first downs per game rank third. The Bullets have eclipsed 200 yards rushing in five games this fall.
 
- Junior Kyle Wigley has climbed to eighth in the conference in rushing at 74.4 yards per game. His 6.0 yards per carry is the second-best mark in the league and he has posted two 100-yard rushing efforts this fall. Wigley enters this weekend's game with 1,450 rushing yards and he needs just 15 yards to pass Mike Rosenberger '90 for 17th on Gettysburg's career list.

- Senior quarterback Zach Miller is one of just three Bullets to post 500 pass attempts, 300 pass completions, and 3,500 passing yards in his career. He ranks third all-time in both pass completions (300) and passing yards (3,874).  Miller has either thrown or rushed for a touchdown in 17 of his 18 career starts.

- Senior Fred Caruso ranks third in the conference in all-purpose yardage at 129 yards per game. He paces the Bullets in receiving yards (268), kick return yards (386), and punt return yards (151). He has posted 100 or more all-purpose yards in five of eight games this season. His 1,252 career receiving yards rank eighth in school history and he is 81 shy of Ken Snyder '65. 

GETTYSBURG DEFENSE
Gettysburg ranks third in the conference in rushing defense with 128.6 yards allowed per game this fall. The Bullets lead the conference in tackles with 77 per game and they rank fourth with 17 sacks.

- Junior Kodie McNamara (Manasquan, N.J./Manasquan) leads the Bullets and ranks fifth in the conference with 63 tackles. McNamara, who led the CC in tackles with 119 in 2013, has reached double-figure tackles three times.

- Senior Gordon Prince posted a career-high 15 tackles against Moravian. He ranks ninth in the conference with 7.1 tackles per game and he has already topped his personal best with 57 stops this fall.

- Senior Mike Maguire (Colts Neck, N.J./Colts Neck) has logged eight or more tackles in three of the last four games. He tied a personal best with 11 stops against Moravian. 
 

GETTYSBURG SPECIAL TEAMS
- Sophomore Garrett Long (Mechanicsburg, Pa./Cumberland Valley) has connected on all 20 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 56.7 yards on kickoffs.

- Junior Robby Fay (New Providence, N.J./New Providence) ranks fourth in the conference with 36.2 yards per punt. He's placed 12 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. 

Little Brown Bucket
The Little Brown Bucket has been the centerpiece of the Gettysburg-Dickinson rivalry since its creation in 1938. The trophy was developed by Gettysburg graduate George H. Hummel and Dickinson graduate S. Walter Stauffer. Originally called the "Dickinson-Gettysburg Gridiron Trophy," it is made of solid brown mahogany trimmed with sterling silver. On its sides are engraved the names of the two colleges along with their respective seals. Gettysburg played host to the Bucket in 16 of the first 18 meetings, but Carlisle has been home to the trophy for 23 of the last 27 years.
 
100th Game
Next weekend's regular-season finale at Shirk Field will feature the 100th game against 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.