Gettysburg College Athletics

OPENING KICKOFF: Today’s Centennial Conference (CC) game marks the 66th meeting between Gettysburg (2-6, 1-3 CC) and Ursinus (5-3, 1-3 CC) in a series that dates back to 1903. The Bullets lead the all-time series 35-26-4 but the Bears have won the last five meetings. The last Gettysburg win was a 42-17 victory in Collegeville on Sept. 10, 2016.

WHEN LAST WE MET: Ursinus scored the first 51 points of a 51-16 win over Gettysburg last Saturday. Ryan McAndrew (Denville, N.J./Morris Catholic) caught two long touchdown passes in the fourth quarter. He finished the day with six catches for 154 yards. Jack Psenicska led the Bears with 336 yards passing on 21 of 34 with six touchdown passes.

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 4-24 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… Peter Gallagher is in his 23rd season at Ursinus. He has posted a 119-108 mark at the helm of the Bears, including a 6-4 record in his first season (2001), marking the first time an Ursinus coach registered a winning season in his first year. In 2006, Gallagher added offensive coordinator to his duties and recorded the most successful campaign in his tenure at 8-3. In 2010, he guided the Bears to a share of the Centennial Conference title and became the program’s all-time wins leader. Prior to his arrival in Collegeville, he served as the defensive coordinator at the University of Rochester in addition to successful stints at Dartmouth, Wagner and Georgetown. Gallagher guided Ursinus to seven straight winning seasons – the longest stretch in program history. In 2018, the Bears returned near the top of the standings with an 8-3 record that included a 70-14 win over Misericordia in a Centennial-MAC Bowl game.

LAST TIME OUT: Two Dickinson touchdowns in the final 3:25 of the first half proved the difference in a 28-25 victory over Gettysburg last Saturday. Ryan McAndrew made nine catches for 131 yards and a touchdown to lead the Bullets. Aidan Feulner (Cresskill, N.J./Cresskill) caught four passes for 24 yards but also threw a 39-yard touchdown pass and caught a two-point conversion. Matt Mikulka (Lititz, Pa./Manheim Twp.) paced the defense with 10 tackles and two pass breakups. Diante Ball led the Red Devils with 9 carries for 197 yards.

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.

THANK YOU, SENIORS!: Today marks the final home game for up to 21 Gettysburg seniors. The group has combined to make 67 starts this season.

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.

HITTING THE CENTURY MARK: For the fourth 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 has since put together back-to-back 100-yards days. At College of New Jersey two weeks ago, he made seven catches for 140 yards. Last week, he reeled in a career-high nine grabs for 131 yards. McAndrew has 10 receptions of 20 or more yards this season – more than any other Gettysburg receiver. For the season, he has a team-high 635 yards receiving on 38 catches. The total ranks second in the conference this season and ranks ninth in Bullets program history for a single season. He needs just 161 yards over the last two games to reach third in program history.

WHAT A BOOT: Rob Meyer (Doylestown, Pa./Archbishop Wood) drilled a 44-yard field goal early in the fourth quarter last Saturday for a career-long attempt. His previous long attempt came at McDaniel on Sept. 27 when he tried a 39-yarder. The longest field goal Meyer had made prior to Saturday was a 30-yarder against Montclair on Sept. 9. The senior is just the eighth different kicker in the history of the program to connect on a field goal of 44 yards or longer. On the year, he is 8-for-9 in field-goal attempts, missing just the 39-yard attempt in Westminster.

LIKE A ROCCO: Sophomore signal caller Rocco Abdinoor (Edgewater, Md./St. Mary’s Annapolis) completed a career-high 20 passes on Saturday. He went 20-for-34 on the day for 184 yards and a touchdown. He also ran the ball six time for a net of nine yards and one score. The 58.8-percent completion percentage against the Red Devils was Abdinoor’s best single-game percentage. It marked the fist time in more than two seasons that any Gettysburg quarterback completed 20 or more passes in a single game.

MIK DROP: Matt Mikulka recorded a career-high 10 tackles against Dickinson on Saturday that included six solo stops. He also broke up two passes. Freshman Ryan Weems (Plant City, Fla./Strawberry Crest) aided his secondary mate, establishing a career best with eight tackles. 

FEULING UP LATE: Aidan Feulner had a relatively quiet day until the fourth quarter on Saturday and the final scoring drive by the Bullets. On a first down from the Dickinson 39, Gettysburg ran a reverse to Feulner, who turned it in a wide receiver-to-wide receiver touchdown pass. He found Ryan McAndrew open near the goal line and his classmate turned around and found the end zone for a touchdown. The Bullets then opted for the two-point conversion try to pull within three points with 8:30 to play. Rocco Abdinoor started scrambling and Feulner went into full scramble mode for his quarterback, working open down the far sideline and catching the heave before hitting the pylon for a the two-point score.

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… For the first time this season, Gettysburg lost a game that was 1:00 kickoff and in which the Bullets won the turnover battle… Games involving Gettysburg this season have been the most penalized games in the league. Gettysburg is last in the league in penalty yardage (83.6 ypg) and first in opponent penalty yardage (74.4).

The Bears enter their final road game of the season off a 49-6 win over McDaniel last Saturday to notch their first conference win of the year. After the Green Terror answered an opening-minute Ursinus touchdown to be within 7-6 in the first 4:10 of the game, the hosts reeled off the final 42 points of the game. McDaniel muffed the opening kickoff, setting up the host at the six-yard line and they scored on the first play from scrimmage. Cody House then returned the second-half kickoff 64 yards to set the offense up at the McDaniel 30 and three plays later they took a 35-6 lead… The Bears outgained the Green Terror 465-236 on the day, including 259-68 on the ground. Jalen Bradford completed 13 of 28 passes for 201 yards and two touchdowns. He also ran the ball 10 times for 24 yards. Tony Holden led the ground game with 154 yards on 20 carries that included three scores. Brett Gross paced the defense with nine tackles and an interception – one of three second-half picks by the Ursinus defense… For the season, Holden has rushed for 595 yards and six touchdowns on 148 carries. His 74.4 yards per game is third in the conference… Dawson Fresses also has six rushing scores this season and has toted the ball 65 times for 258 yards… Bradford is currently third in the league in passing yards with 1,944. He has completed 140 of 256 passes with 19 touchdowns and eight interceptions. Saturday was the first time all season he had not thrown a pick after Johns Hopkins intercepted him twice the week before. He has thrown for 200 or more yards in all seven games this year… Justin Collier and House are the leading receivers for Bradford. Both have more than 300 yards on the year. Collier has 33 grabs for 389 yards and three touchdowns while House has 30 catches for 303 yards and five scores… Gross leads the defense with 65 tackles, including 6.0 for loss and 1.5 sacks, to go with an interception, two pass breakups, three fumble recoveries and a forced fumble… After starting the season 3-0, Ursinus dropped a 28-20 decision to Muhlenberg and 20-16 game at Franklin & Marshall and has alternated wins and losses since… The Bears are 4-1 at home and 1-2 on the road in 2023.