Gettysburg College Athletics

OPENING KICKOFF: Today’s Centennial Conference (CC) game marks the 88th meeting between Gettysburg (2-5, 1-2 CC) and Dickinson (5-2, 2-1 CC) in a series that dates back to 1892. The Bullets lead the all-time series 44-41-2 but the Red Devils have won the last six meetings, including a 35-9 win in Gettysburg last season. The last Gettysburg victory was by a 20-17 margin in 2015 at Gettysburg.

WHEN LAST WE MET: Dickinson ran for 333 yards as part of a 35-9 win over Gettysburg last season. Rocco Abdinoor (Edgewood, Md./St. Mary’s Annapolis) went 12-for-24 for 144 yards through the air but also ran the ball 14 times for 77 yards to lead the Bullets. Matt Mikulka (Lititz, Pa./Manheim Twp.) led the defense with nine tackles. Diante Ball led the ground game for the Red Devils, carrying the ball 26 times for 277 yards and three touchdowns. He also had four catches for 46 yards and a score.

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 4-23 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… Brad Fordyce is in his seventh season at the helm of the Red Devils, entering today with a record of 24-33. He spent the previous two seasons as the linebackers coach and recruiting coordinator at Bucknell. No stranger to the Centennial Conference, Fordyce served seven seasons as the defensive coordinator at Susquehanna and was also on the McDaniel staff for nine seasons, including the final four years as defensive coordinator.

LAST TIME OUT: The College of New Jersey held Gettysburg off the scoreboard for more than 40 minutes while building a three-score lead en route to a 30-13 victory last Saturday. Justin Rhyne (Haddonfield, N.J./Haddonfield Memorial) led the Bullets with a career-high 11 tackles. He was one of four members of the defensive front seven with seven or more tackles. Ryan McAndrew (Denville, N.J./Morris Catholic) led the offense with seven catches for 140 yards and a touchdown. Trevor Bopp completed 24 of 39 passes for 290 yards and two touchdowns for the Lions.

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.

BATTLE FOR THE BUCKET: The Little Brown Bucket or Old Oaken Bucket has been a staple of the Gettysburg-Dickinson rivalry since 1938. The trophy was created by S. Walter Stauffer and George Hummel, members of the Dickinson and Gettysburg Board of Trustees, respectively. The first game with the Bucket on the line was played on Thanksgiving and the Bullets emerged victorious 14-0, kicking off a string of nine consecutive wins. Since the introduction of the Bucket, Dickinson has led the rivalry 30-22-1. Both teams have nine-game winning streaks over the history of the series. The Bullets’ series against the Red Devils is one of their oldest, dating back to 1892, the third season of Gettysburg football. Gettysburg won that game 18-6 and has never trailed in a series that was tied at 1-all and 7-all. It is the second-most contested rivalry in Bullets’ history only to the Gettysburg-Franklin & Marshall series.

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.

DOING IT WITH DEFENSE: Four members of the Bullets’ starting front seven recorded seven or more tackles on Saturday at The College of New Jersey. Justin Rhyne led the way with a career-high 11 stops on the afternoon. He was the first Gettysburg defender this season to reach double-figure tackles. Chris Singleton, Jr. (Catonsville, Md./Georgetown Prep) added a career-best nine tackles from the defensive line, including a sack. Peter Corcoran (Havertown, Pa./Haverford Twp.) had eight stops while Mike Del Grande (Lancaster, Pa./Lampeter-Strasburg) added seven. Ryan Weems (Plant City, Fla./Strawberry Crest) led the secondary, establishing a career best with seven tackles in his second straight start.

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 five 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-12 in the five losses. In fact, the Bullets have just five takeaways in their five losses – two of which came last week at TCNJ – 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.

HITTING THE CENTURY MARK: For the third straight game, a Bullet receiver recorded a 100-yard game. Ryan McAndrew started the run with 136 yards on eight catches at Johns Hopkins on Oct. 6 before Aidan Feulner (Cresskill, N.J./Cresskill) need just three grabs to reach a career-high 100 yards on Oct. 14 against Muhlenberg. Feulner’s day was highlighted by an 80-yard touchdown grab. McAndrew then had his second 100-yard day of the season last Saturday, making seven catches for 140 yards. McAndrew has seven receptions of 20 or more yards this season – more than any other Gettysburg receiver.

PICKIN’ IT: Chris Lessel recorded his conference-leading third interception of the season on Saturday. He is one of six defenders with multiple interceptions in the CC this season. As a team, Gettysburg is tied for second in the league with seven picks. Only Muhlenberg has more with eight in 2023. All three of Lessel’s interceptions have come in the last four games and all have come with returns. He had a pick that he returned 10 yards at McDaniel on Sept. 30 before having a 15-yard return at home against Muhlenberg on Oct. 14 and a 26-yard runback last week at TCNJ.

BULLET POINTS: Chris Singleton, Jr. is the CC record holder for career blocked kicks with 10, recording the record-breaking kick on a second-quarter punt against Muhlenberg. The Mules’ Dan Terpstra (1993-96) was the previous record holder… Gettysburg is 2-0 in 1:00 kickoffs this season and 0-5 in kickoffs at any other time. The last three Bullet games in 2023 all begin at 1:00… Games involving Gettysburg this season have been the most penalized games in the league. Gettysburg is last in the league in penalty yardage (79.3 ypg) and first in opponent penalty yardage (70.7).

The Red Devils had their five-game winning streak snapped with a 42-21 loss to No. 21 Muhlenberg last Saturday. The Mules raced out to a 21-0 lead in the game’s first 22 minutes and took a 35-7 lead into the fourth quarter. Presley Egbers completed 21 of 35 passes for 202 yards and three touchdowns last week. He also ran for a team-best 54 yards on eight carries. As a team, Dickinson was limited to just 80 yards on the ground. Bobby Markey was the leading receiver on Saturday, grabbing four balls for 79 yards – two of which went for fourth-quarter touchdowns (15 yards, 43 yards)… After being outgained 391-282 last week, the Red Devils are being outgained by 103 yards on the year, allowing an average of 357.0 yards per game while the offense has averaged 342.3… Egbers has completed 52 percent of his passes this season (102 of 196) for 1,234 yards. He has 11 touchdowns and six interceptions. He is also second on the team in rushing with 292 yards on 57 carries. He has run for six scores… Diante Ball is leading the team in rushing with 707 yards, averaging 101.0 yards per game, which is tops in the conference. Ball has toted the rock 138 times and scored seven touchdowns but was limited to just 24 yards on 14 carries. He had four 100-yard rushing games during the Red Devils’ five-game winning streak… Four Dickinson defenders have 40 or more tackles this season and have registered 32 or more. James Basilii leads the way with 49 tackles, including 28 solo stops. He also has two interceptions… Bram Leyes has 47 tackles that includes 5.0 tackles for loss and 3.0 sacks…Two of Dickinson’s five wins this season have been by a combined five points. The Red Devils topped Franklin & Marshall 19-17 on a Friday night Battle for the Wagon, scoring the game-winning touchdown as time expired. Dickinson also defeated Christopher Newport 27-24 in overtime.