Gettysburg College Athletics

OPENING KICKOFF: Today’s non-conference game marks the first meeting between Gettysburg (2-4, 1-2 CC) and College of New Jersey (2-4, 1-2 NJAC). This is the third first-time opponent for the Bullets this season. Gettysburg is 0-2 in those games this season.

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 4-22 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… Casey Goff is in his seventh season at the helm of the Lions. He enters today’s game with a record of 17-37 at TCNJ. He has developed 17 all-conference performers over the last two seasons, including NJAC Rookie of the Year Lucas Spitzer in 2021. In his first season at the helm of the Lions in 2017, TCNJ doubled its win total from the previous year while finishing the season on a three-game winning streak. He then won three of the final four games in 2018 before a two-win campaign in 2019. He finished 2021 and 2022 with a pair of 3-6 marks. Prior to TCNJ, Goff served one sesaon as the head coach at Defiance, going 5-5 in 2016. Prior to that, he had stops at Salve Regina, King’s, Washington & Jefferson, Rhodes, Cortland, and Muhlenberg.

LAST TIME OUT: No. 21 Muhlenberg scored three straight touchdowns in the second quarter to break open a 13-6 game en route to a 41-13 victory over Gettysburg last Saturday. Aidan Feulner (Cresskill, N.J./Cresskill) led the Bullets with a career-best 100 yards receiving that included an 80-yard touchdown catch. Joe Repetti led the Mules with 125 yards on 13 of 24 passing with four touchdowns. He also ran for 79 more on 10 carries.

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.

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.

BLOCK PARTY: After not recording a blocked kick in the first four games of the season, Chris Singleton, Jr. (Catonsville, Md./Georgetown Prep) has blocked one in back-to-back games. After a single-season conference-record eight blocked kicks last season, he got a piece of a 30-yard field-goal attempt to tie the conference record. On Saturday, he blocked a punt to break the deadlock with Muhlenberg’s Dan Terpstra (1993-96) and take over the conference record by himself.

MANY HAPPY RETURNS: Off Chris Singleton’s blocked punt in the second quarter on Tuesday, the Bullets got their second special teams’ touchdown of the season. Peter Corcoran (Havertown, Pa./Haverford) scooped up the Singleton block and returned it 15 yards for Gettysburg’s first points of the afternoon with 12:00 to play in the period. It was the first time the Orange and Blue had returned a blocked punt for a touchdown since Kevin Sawtell had a 30-yard return at Dickinson on Sept. 15, 2018.

GOING LONG: In the fourth quarter on Saturday, Gettysburg took over on its own 20 after a touchback on a punt. On the first play from scrimmage, Konrad Vandborg (Gentofte, Denmark/Rabun Gap) hit Aidan Feulner in stride near midfield. The senior did the rest of the work, taking it the distance for an 80-yard touchdown reception. It was the Bullets’ longest play from scrimmage this season and gave Feulner his first career 100-yard receiving day. It was the longest pass play since Logan Edmond connected with Andrew Lusardi for an 87-yard strike on Oct. 30, 2021 at Ursinus.

TURNOVERS ARE KEY: The turnover battle has been a key predictor in the outcome of Gettysburg games this season. In both games that the Bullets have won the turnover battle, they have come out on top. Conversely, they have dropped all three games in which they have committed more turnovers than their opponents. In the two wins this season, Gettysburg is plus-4 in turnovers but is minus-10 in the three losses. In fact, the Bullets have just three takeaways in their three losses compared to six in their two wins. In the wins, however, Gettysburg has turned it over just once in each game but multiple times in each of the losses.

SIX PACK FOR THE DEFENSE: The Bullets had six players establish career highs in tackles in Saturday’s game against Muhlenberg. That included four of the defense’s top six linebackers and two of the three starting defensive linemen. Peter Corcoran led the way with a team-best nine tackles. Mike Del Grande (Lancaster, Pa./Lampeter-Strasburg), Justin Rhyne (Haddonfield, N.J./Haddonfield Memorial) and Kossi Agbo (Silver Spring, Md./Northwood) – three of the four starting linebackers – all had eight tackles for new career bests. Liam Vilanti (Huntington Station, N.Y./Walt Whitman) and Jan Klinger (Saltsburg, Pa./The Kiski School) added six and five stops, respectively.

BULLET POINTS: Today is the final non-conference game of the season for Gettysburg. The Orange and Blue is looking for a .500 record in its non-conference slate with a victory… It is also the third of three Homecoming games in a four-week stretch for the Bullets… Games involving Gettysburg this season have been the most penalized games in the league. Gettysburg is last in the league in penalty yardage (77.3 ypg) and first in opponent penalty yardage (75.5)… After today’s road trip, the Bullets are home for three of their last four games.

The Lions enter today’s game off a 27-0 win at winless Kean last Saturday. Jayson Schmidt ran for 112 yards on 19 carries to lead the offense. Ryan McKinney toted the rock 16 times for 93 yards. Defensively, Jameson Sessa had seven tackles to lead the Lions, including 2.5 for loss and a sack… Prior to the 27-point outburst last week, TCNJ had been limited to 10 or fewer points in each of their previous four outings after opening the year with a 41-21 win over first-year program Eastern… Schmidt leads the rushing attack on the season with 362 yards on 88 carries with two touchdowns. He is accounting for more than half of the team’s total rushing yards. As a team, the Lions are rushing for an average of 118.0 yards per game. Schmidt has 60.3 of those yards… Trevor Bopp was averaging 249.0 yards passing through the first five games of the season but had thrown 10 interceptions against just five touchdowns before not playing at all against Kean last week. He was 104 of 203 for 1,245 yards through the first five games that included a 405-yard opener and four 200-yard passing games… Ryan Gill and Thomas Burke have each caught 20 or more passes this season. Gill has 24 grabs for 338 yards and two touchdowns while Burke ahs 20 receptions for 326 yards and two scores… Logan Flaherty, Cole Groschel and Dominick Nocero lead the defense this season. Flaherty (41) and Groschel (40) have both eclipsed the 40-tackle mark while Nocero has 39 through six games. Flaherty also has 5.5 tackles for loss, 2.0 sacks and two pass breakups. Groschel has two interceptions and four breakups.