Gettysburg College Athletics

OPENING KICKOFF: Today’s Centennial Conference (CC) game marks the 87th meeting between Gettysburg (2-3, 1-1 CC) and No. 21 Muhlenberg (5-0, 2-0 CC) in a series that dates back to 1907. The Bullets hold the edge in the all-time series 43-42-1 but the Mules have won the last 10 in the series. The last Gettysburg victory was by a 14-10 margin in Gettysburg on Oct. 15, 2011.

WHEN LAST WE MET: Muhlenberg scored a pair of touchdowns in the first 5 minutes, 1 second en route to a 56-17 win over Gettysburg last season. Teddy Girton led the Bullets with seven catches for 76 yards and his first touchdown of the season. Joe Repetti led the Mules, throwing for 338 yards and five touchdowns. He completed 22 of 33 passes and ran the ball eight times for 77 yards.

COACHES’ CORNER: Moe Banks is in his fourth year in charge of the Gettysburg program and third season with games. Banks enters today’s game with a 4-21 record on the sidelines. He came to Gettysburg after six seasons at Georgetown (2014-18) and Penn (2019). At Georgetown, he coached defensive backs and oversaw special teams, including mentoring a secondary that ranked third in the FCS in team passing efficiency defense (97.2 percent) and fourth in interceptions (20) in 2018. At Penn, Banks assisted with the development and implementation of defensive and special teams schemes. He coached a pair of All-Ivy League selections at linebacker and was also the play-caller for the kickoff unit, which finished third in the Ivy League in net kickoff average… Nate Milne is in his sixth season at the helm of the Mules, winning his first seven games at the head man after serving the previous three seasons as the offensive coordinator. He enters this week with a record of 47-9 after guiding the team to a co-championship in the conference and at-large bid into the NCAA tournament in 2018, where Muhlenberg advanced to the third round of the tournament. His second saw an outright conference title and NCAA semifinal appearance. In 2021, Milne’s Mules once again claimed a share of the conference title and earned the automatic bid into the NCAA field, once again advancing to the third round. In Milne’s years as offensive coordinator and offensive line coach, the Mules compiled a record of 25-8, averaging 33.3 points and 428.0 yards per game. He spent the previous seven seasons as the offensive coordinator at Susquehanna.

LAST TIME OUT: Johns Hopkins, ranked ninth, raced out to a 28-0 lead en route to a 49-28 victory over Gettysburg last Friday night. Peter Schelling (Chatham, N.J./Chatham) ran the ball 13 times for a season-high 95 yards and two touchdowns. Ryan McAndrew (Denville, Pa./Morris Catholic) made eight catches for 136 yards, recording his first 100-yard receiving game of the season. He also had a touchdown grab. Bay Harvey completed 18 of 20 passes for 288 yards and four touchdowns in just one half of action at quarterback for the Blue Jays.

LEADING THE WAY: Sam Burk (Swarthmore, Pa./Strath Haven), Chris Lessel (Orefield, Pa./Parkland) and Chris Singleton, Jr. (Catonsville, Md./Georgetown Prep) will captain the squad in 2023. Lessel and Singleton are two-time captains while Burk will captain Gettysburg for the first time as a senior.

WELCOME, ALUMS!: It’s Homecoming Weekend at Gettysburg. The Bullets enter the 2023 season with an all-time record of 54-33-3 in from of the alumni. Gettysburg dropped a 41-7 game to 21st-ranked Susquehanna last season after a 48-42 win over Juniata in 2021 that snapped a three-game skid on Homecoming. The Bullets are 14-6-1 all-time against the Mules on Homecoming. The last time Muhlenberg visited Shirk Field on Homecoming was 2015 – a 41-13 Mule win.

CONFERENCE REALIGNMENT: It’s not just the Power 5 conferences dealing with realignment. It hits the Centennial Conference in 2023 with the Landmark Conference now sponsoring football and the three associate members – Juniata, Moravian, and Susquehanna – now playing football in their primary conference. The remaining Centennial teams will play just six leagues games for the first time since 2006 but also entered a scheduling agreement with the New Jersey Athletic Conference (NJAC) for three of those four non-conference games. Gettysburg was able to maintain an agreement with Juniata to open the season before taking on Montclair and Christopher Newport in NJAC crossover games the next two weekends. After a bye in Week Four, the Bullets will open the CC schedule and play conference foes in six of the final seven weeks. Gettysburg was one of three CC teams to take on Landmark teams on opening weekend.

TWICE AS NICE: Peter Schelling rushed for a season-high 94 yards at Johns Hopkins on Friday night. Among his career-high-tying 13 carries were a pair of touchdown runs. His scoring scampers covered 10 yards on the opening play of the second quarter before he busted through the line for a 58-yard jaunt to the end zone early in the third quarter. His 58-yard run was the longest by a Bullet since Andrew Howard had a 59-yard run against the Blue Jays on Oct. 20, 2018. For the season, Schelling has run the ball a team-high 54 times for 274 yards and four touchdowns. It is part of a rushing attack that is third in the conference, averaging 171.6 yards per game. Only Muhlenberg (179.0) and Johns Hopkins (175.6) are averaging more yards per game on the ground.

BLOCK PARTY: It took five games but Chris Singleton, Jr. (Catonsville, Md./Georgetown Prep) blocked his first kick of the season after a conference-record eight last season. It came late in the third quarter on a 30-yard attempt in which Singleton came around the edge and got a piece of the kick to force a miss. He has now tied the conference record with 10 blocked kicks for his career to match Dan Terpstra (Muhlenberg) between 1993 and 1996.

HITTING THE CENTURY MARK: Ryan McAndrew turned in his first 100-yard receiving game of the season and the third of his career last Friday night at Johns Hopkins. He caught a season-high eight balls for a season-best 136 yards and had a touchdown pass. The senior started the year with 95 yards and 99 yards, just missing the century mark in the first two games of the season. He enters the second half of the season leading the team and fifth in the CC at 72.8 yards per game. He has caught 22 passes for 364 yards and three touchdowns. 

DOING IT WITH DEFENSE: Matt Mikulka (Lititz, Pa./Manheim Twp.) has led the Gettysburg defense the last two games. Two weeks ago, the senior defensive back matched his career high with nine tackles, including a career-best 2.0 for loss. Mikulka also recovered the final onside kick that allowed the offense to run the clock out and secure the victory against McDaniel. It was part of a defensive effort that allowed a season-low 80 rushing yards behind 10 tackles for loss. Last Friday at Johns Hopkins, he recorded seven stops and recovered an onside kick after a Bullet touchdown early in the fourth quarter. Mikulka leads the defense with 27 tackles this season, including four pass breakups.

SECOND-HALF STRONG: Gettysburg outscored Johns Hopkins 21-7 after halftime on Friday night and outgained the host 221-181 over the final 30 minutes. The Bullets ran 28 total plays in the second half for 221 yards, including 101 rushing and 120 passing. The Blue Jays, conversely, ran 37 plays for 181 yards, including 124 rushing. Seven of those plays – and 30 yards – came on the final drive when the hosts were able to run out the clock.

BULLET POINTS: After playing the first two games of the season at home, Gettysburg is back at home for the first time in five weeks. It is the second of three Homecoming games in a four-week stretch for the Bullets… The Bullets are second in the conference in time of possession and have won that battle in four of the five games… Games involving the Bullets this season have been the most penalized games in the league. Gettysburg is last in the league in penalty yardage (80.0 ypg) and first in opponent penalty yardage (79.0)… This is the first of three trophy games for Gettysburg in the final five contests. The Bullets and Mules play for the Old Tin Cup, which was first awarded in 1954.

The Mules enter today’s game ranked 21st in the latest D3football.com poll, holding steady from last week … Muhlenberg remained undefeated with a 50-6 win over McDaniel last Saturday… Joe Repetti matched the Mules’ program record with six total touchdowns, throwing for five and rushing for one. He completed 15 of 22 passes for 226 yards on the day… The Muhlenberg defense allowed just 199 total yards to the Green Terror, including just 23 rushing yards on 34 attempts. McDaniel netted only 12 total yards on its first seven drives before scoring its lone touchdown late in the first half… James Nye and Matt McKenna each scored multiple touchdowns for the second time this season. Nye caught four passes for 101 yards and a pair of scores in his fourth career 100-yard game while McKenna also hauled in a pair of scores among his three catches for 45 yards… Repetti is averaging a conference-best 282.4 yards per game through the air. He is completing 71 percent (93 of 131) of his passes on the year with 18 touchdowns and just four interceptions… Nye is currently fourth in the conference in receiving yards per game, averaging 73.4 per contest. He has seven TDs among his 16 catches and 367 yards… Nine different receivers caught a pass on Saturday from Repetti, who surpassed 4,000 career passing yards in the game… Repetti is also the team’s leading rusher with 243 yards on 37 carries. He has two rushing scores… Saturday was the second time this season and eighth time in the last 29 games that the Mules had reached the 50-point mark in a game… Matt Giuliano leads the defense with 32 tackles this season. Dom Visintin (28) and Tyler Ekstrom (27) have also recorded 27 or more stops in the first five games of the season. Visintin also had 4.0 tackles for loss.