Gettysburg College Athletics

OPENING KICKOFF: Today’s Centennial Conference (CC) game marks the 108th meeting between Gettysburg (2-7, 1-4 CC) and Franklin & Marshall (6-3, 2-3 CC) in a series that dates back to 1890. The Diplomats have won the last six meetings to take a 52-48-9 lead in the all-time series. The last Bullets win was a 21-7 victory in 2015. This is the 40th consecutive season that the two long-time rivals have been the final scheduled game for each other.

WHEN LAST WE MET: Franklin & Marshall scored two touchdowns in the first 5:07 of the fourth quarter to turn a 10-point game into a 31-7 lead en route to a 31-14 win over Gettysburg to close out the 2022 season. Teddy Girton led the Bullets with three catches for 79 yards, including a 58-yard touchdown. Joshua Williams (Baltimore, Md./Catonsville) paced the defense with eight tackles and two pass breakups. Aaron Rascoe led the Diplomats with 19 rushes for 93 yards and three touchdowns. Gary Lewis had six grabs for 100 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 4-25 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… Tom Blumeauer is in his second season as the head coach at Franklin & Marshall, entering today with a 12-7 record. Blumenauer came to Lancaster after spending six years as an assistant head coach at Williams, most recently held the position of offensive coordinator/quarterback coach. Originally joining the Ephs staff as offensive line coach, he helped Williams finish seventh nationally in rushing yards per carry (5.92) and 14th in rushing yards per game (247.8) while also leading the conference in passing touchdowns during the 2019 campaign. Prior to Williams, Blumenauer served as offensive coordinator/quarterbacks coach at Bowdoin during the 2015 season. Prior to constructing some of the top offenses throughout the NESCAC and all of Division III, Blumenauer served as the offensive coordinator, recruiting coordinator, and quarterbacks coach at Endicott. He got his start in college coaching as the recruiting coordinator, quarterbacks coach, and wide receivers coach at St. Lawrence from 2010-13. During his playing career, Blumenauer starred as an outside linebacker and free safety at Ithaca from 2004-06, earning Empire 8 All-Star recognition during his final two seasons, as well as being named to the All-East Region Team in 2006.

LAST TIME OUT: Ursinus scored 28 straight points in the second quarter before holding off a furious second-half rally by Gettysburg to finish off a 48-35 win last Saturday. Rocco Abdinoor (Edgewater, Md./St. Mary’s Annapolis) led the Bullets with a career-high 316 yards passing, completing 24 of 34 passes with two touchdowns. He also ran 13 times for 27 yards and a score. Ryan McAndrew (Denville, N.J./Morris Catholic) registered his third straight 100-yard receiving game, catching seven balls for 130 yards. He caught one touchdown. Jalen Bradford also had a 300-yard passing day for the Bears, completing 18 of 30 passes for 312 yards and four touchdowns.

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.

HEAD OF THE CLASS: Matt Mikulka (Lititz, Pa./Manheim Twp.) earned CC Defensive Player of the Week honors after leading the Bullets a week ago with a career-high 11 tackles against Ursinus. He also had an interception that he returned 25 yards for a touchdown. It was his first career pick-six.

LINCOLN FOOTBALL TROPHY: For the 100th meeting between Gettysburg and Franklin & Marshall in 2015, a new award was created to commemorate the occasion. The two institutions and surrounding communities are connected by one stretch of road, Route 30, better known as the Lincoln Highway. Local historian and woodworker Bill Hewitt molded the trophy, which resembles President Abraham Lincoln’s stove-pipe hat. Pieces of the wood were from two “witness trees” that stood tall during the Battle of Gettysburg in 1863. A bullet from the battle was found within one of the trees and has been embedded within the trophy itself, safely ensconced under hat.

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.

300-LEVEL CLASS: Rocco Abdinoor had his first collegiate 300-yard passing game on Saturday. The sophomore signal caller completed a career-high 24 passes on 34 attempts for 316 yards. He also had a pair of touchdown passes to go with 13 rushes for 27 yards and a score. It marked the first time a Gettysburg quarterback threw for at least 300 yards in a game since Danny Thompson accomplished the feat with 317 yards against Moravian on Oct. 29, 2016.

DOUBLE YOUR PLEASURE: Ryan McAndrew and Walle Harwigsson Lundblad (Malmo, Sweden/Rabun Gap) both accounted for more than 100 yards of the 316 thrown by Rocco Abdinoor on Saturday. It was the fifth straight game that at least one Bullet receiver had 100 or more yards receiving. McAndrew caught seven passes for 130 yards while Harwigsson had 10 catches for 116 yards. Both receivers also had a touchdown reception. It was the first time since Sept. 28, 2013 that Gettysburg had two teammates with 100 yards receiving. Aden Twer and Tommy LeNoir last turned the trick against Susquehanna.

NOW THAT’S SOME MIC-SWAGGER: Ryan McAndrew and Matt Mikulka both had big days to lead their respective units for Gettysburg a week ago. McAndrew had this third straight 100-yard receiving game and fourth of the season with the seven-catch, 130-yard afternoon on offense. Nearly half of those yards came on a second-quarter 64-yard touchdown catch-and-run. Defensively, it was Mikulka leading the way for the second straight week. A week after his first double-digit tackle effort, he reset his career high with 11 tackles. However, he also made his first interception of the season count, returning it 25 yards for the Bullets’ first pick-six of the season.

GETTING OFFENSIVE: Saturday’s game with Ursinus featured 1,045 yards of combined total offense. The Bears finished with a 607-438 advantage in total offense but the Bullets had a slight 316-312 edge through the air. For Gettysburg, however, the 35 points were the most the team has scored against a team other than Juniata since 2016 (52-21 win over Moravian on Oct. 29). Since then, the Bullets have scored 35 or more in four of the six games against the Eagles and 34 or fewer in the other 54 games.

LIKE A BAKERY: The Gettysburg defense forced a season-high four turnovers on Saturday, converting the last two into touchdowns. Ursinus threw an interception and fumbled the ball on its first two possessions of the game but the Bear defense forced punts on both of the ensuing Bullet drives. The tables turned, however, on the first two possessions of the second half. Gettysburg’s offense cashed in a fumble for a touchdown and the second interception was returned for a score. The Bullet defense has 17 takeaways on the season. Saturday marked the third time this year that the defense came up with multiple picks.

AMONG THE RANKS: Ryan McAndrew enters the season finale with 765 yards receiving on 45 catches with six touchdowns. His yardage total is currently fourth in program history and he needs 30 yards to pass Aden Twer’s 2013 season of 765 yards. His 45 catches currently ranks sixth for a single season while his six touchdown grabs is tied for 10th.

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… Games involving Gettysburg this season have been the most penalized games in the league. Gettysburg is last in the league in penalty yardage (84.0 ypg) and first in opponent penalty yardage (73.8).

The Diplomats enter the regular-season finale off a 48-45 double-overtime loss at Muhlenberg on Saturday. Muhlenberg jumped out to a 21-7 lead early in the second quarter before Franklin & Marshall scored on either side of halftime to tie the game at 21-all. The Diplomats held a 35-28 lead but the Mules got the game-tying touchdown with 35 seconds left in regulation to force overtime. Both teams scored a touchdown on their possession in the first overtime before F&M had to settle for a field goal in the second OT and Joe Repetti connected with James Nye for his fifth TD of the game in Muhlenberg’s half of the second extra-session for the win. Ty Tremba completed 25 of 38 passes for 338 yards and five touchdowns to lead the Diplomat offense. Gary Lewis caught five of those scores as part of his eight-catch, 148-yard afternoon… The five touchdown grabs for Lewis on Saturday marked a new Centennial Conference record. The sophomore’s five touchdowns on Saturday give him 15 on the season, tying him with Dale Amos (1989) for the most receiving touchdowns in a season in program history. All told, he has 47 grabs for 715 yards this season… Owen Walsh led the F&M defense on Saturday with 13 tackles and a pass breakup. Matt Scully and Matt Wertz had nine stops each. Scully added an interception, pass breakup and tackle for loss… Tremba is one of five conference quarterbacks to enter the final week with more than 2,000 passing yards. He is 144 of 249 on the year with 24 touchdowns and six interceptions for 2,020 yards…Four Diplomat receivers have caught multiple touchdown passes this season. Jack Sutton has 30 grabs for 431 yards and four scores. Four of Brady Aselton’s five catches have been touchdowns this season… Scully and Wertz lead the defense with 58 tackles each. Scully has two interceptions and seven breakups while Wertz has one pick and 10 breakups… Laurence Miller is 11-for-14 in field-goal attempts this season with a long of 50 against TCNJ. Two of his three misses have been blocked. He has also punted 37 times for an average of 36.2 yards per kick with 14 punts inside the 20 and just two touchbacks and is averaging 62.4 yards on his 47 kickoffs.