Gettysburg College Athletics

OPENING KICKOFF: Today’s game marks the first meeting between Gettysburg (1-1) and Christopher Newport (1-1). This is the second of three times this season that the Bullets will meet a team they have not faced in the previous 129 yards of football.

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 3-19 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… Paul Crowley is in his second season as head coach at Christopher Newport and enters today with an overall record of 8-4. His squad recorded a 7-3 overall record last season, and a 5-1 mark in the NJAC, finishing second in the standings and winning six consecutive games. The former standout Captains offensive lineman is in his 15th season of college coaching in 2023, and his 13th at CNU. He also serves as quarterbacks coach. During his two tentures on staff (2009-16 and 2019-21), Crowley rose to recruiting coordinator while also working with multiple position groups, including running backs, wide receivers, tight ends and offensive linemen. He was the Captains’ primary playcaller during the 2015 and 2016 campaigns, leading CNU to two of the top four passing seasons in program history. Between stints in Newport News, he spent two seasons coaching the running backs at William and Mary in 2017 and 2018. A First Team All-USA South Center with the Captains, Crowley played for CNU from 2005-08.

LAST TIME OUT: Montclair State outscored Gettysburg 18-3 over a 17-minute stretch of the second half before enduring a 90-minute weather delay to notch a 32-21 victory in its first game of the season last Saturday. Mike Del Grande (Lancaster, Pa./Lampeter-Strasburg) led the Bullets defensively with six tackles, a forced fumble and a pass breakup. Rocco Abdinoor (Edgewater, Md./St. Mary's Annapolis) threw for 197 yards on 17 of 32 passing and ran for another 54 yards on 10 carries. He threw one touchdown. Andrew Sanborn threw for 180 yards, completing 19 of 29 passes in his first start.

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.

OPPOSITES ATTRACT?: Last Saturday’s game between Gettysburg and Montclair showcased two starkly different ways for an offense to score. The Bullets had four scoring drives – two touchdown marches and two that ended with field goals. On those four drives, Gettysburg averaged 11.5 plays and all four drives took more than four-and-a-half minutes. The scoring drives covered 71 yards in 12 plays (5:43), 75 yards in 13 plays (7:49), 76 yards in 11 plays (4:34) and 58 yards in 10 plays (4:31). The Bullets also had a 17-play, 75-yard drive at the end of the game that ended at the one-yard line without a score. The Red Hawks, on the other hand, had five scoring drive that had a total of 23 plays – 11 of which came on their final scoring march. Montclair covered 56 yards on five plays (2:06), 38 yards on four plays (2:05), five yards on two plays (0:11), 66 yards on one play (0:13), and 85 yards on 11 plays (6:35) for its touchdowns. For the game, the Orange and Blue ran 82 offensive plays while the Red Hawks snapped the ball on offense just 53 times.

AIN’T THAT SPECIAL?: Gettysburg has excelled in the kickoff game so far on the young season. The Bullets enter Week Three ranked 19th in Division III in kickoff returns, averaging 30.12 yards per return, and are also 19th in kickoff return defense, allowing their first two opponents to average just 11.25 yards per return. In addition to Walle Harwigsson Lundblad’s (Malmö, Skane, Sweden/Rabun Gap Nacoochee School) 88-yard return for a touchdown, he also has returns of 31, 25 and 21. Peter Schelling (Chatham, N.J./Chatham) had a 37-yard return against Montclair.

KICKIN’ IT: Rob Meyer (Doylestown, Pa./Archbishop Wood) has hit a pair of field goals in each of his first two games this season. After connecting on field goals of 27 yards and 21 yards in the opener, the senior hit a 30-yarder in the first quarter last Saturday before later adding a 21-yarder. He is also 6-for-7 in extra-point attempts this season.

ROTATING KICKERS: The Bullets used two different kickers in both the kickoff and punting game on Saturday against Montclair. Rob Meyer kicked off three times while Leo Sattamini (Delaware Water Gap, Pa./Stroudsburg) had one kickoff in the game. Sattamini also punted three times on day while Matthew Van Istendal (Haddon Heights, N.J./Haddon Heights) had one punt in the fourth quarter. Meyer and Sattamini also both have field-goal attempts this season.

ONE’S NOT GOOD ENOUGH, LET’S GO FOR TWO: Ryan McAndrew (Denville, N.J./Morris Catholic) hauled in a touchdown pass for the second straight game, nabbing a 16-yard scoring strike from Rocco Abdinoor late in the second quarter. After the Bullets scored with 5:32 remaining to pull to within 32-19, Konrad Vandborg (Gentofte, Capital Region, Denmark Rabun Gap) hit McAndrew for a two-point conversion to make it an 11-point game. McAndrew has two touchdown grabs among his nine receptions on the year and 195 total receiving yards, finishing with 95 or more receiving yards in both games this year. His total receiving yards is second in the conference behind Muhlenberg’s Christopher Ardito, who has caught 10 passes for 196 yards.

DUAL THREAT: Rocco Abdinoor has not only thrown for 402 yards this season but he has also ran for another 234. After rushing for 180 yards in the opener, he scampered for another 54 yards on 10 carries against the Red Hawks. The sophomore quarterback is the conference’s leading rusher through two games. Only Dickinson running back Diante Ball is averaging more than 100 yards in two games (104.0).

FIRST TIME FOR EVERYTHING: Michael Zrelak (Monroe, N.Y./Monroe-Woodbury) scored his first collegiate touchdown on Saturday. The sophomore running back nabbed a 13-yard Konrad Vandborg reception out of the backfield for a fourth-quarter score. All told, Zrelak rushed for 37 yards and had another 16 yards receiving in the contest.

BULLET POINTS: There were 24 combined enforced penalties for 244 yards on Saturday. Nine of those penalties were of the 15-yard variety (personal foul or unsportsmanlike conduct) – six charged to Montclair… All three opponents that the Bullets drew for their NJAC crossover games are new foes for Gettysburg… Gettysburg’s September schedule features four teams that went a combined 12-28 last season. Christopher Newport accounted for seven of those victories… This is the first of three straight road games for the Bullets, who played the first two games at home and will not return to Shirk Field until Oct. 14.

The Captains enter today’s game off a 20-14 loss at No. 14 Johns Hopkins last Saturday night. The Blue Jays had a 25-yard interception return for a touchdown early in the fourth quarter to tie the game, starting a stretch of 20 straight points before holding off a late comeback attempt by Christopher Newport… The Captains opened the season with a convincing 45-0 win over Southern Virginia. CNU outgained the Knights 310-54 in the opener before an evenly matched contest with the Blue Jays where JHU finished with a slight 324-317 edge in total offense… Matt Dzierski has completed 20 of 27 passes this season for 200 yards with one touchdown and one interception. Five of the seven incompletions came in a 7-for-12 day through the air for Johns Hopkins… The Captains have rushed for 334 yards this season. Gunner White leads the way with 133 yards on 26 carries with two scores while Dzierski has 119 yards on 27 rushes with three TDs… Colin Hart has nine of Christopher Newport’s 23 receptions this season, accounting for 135 yards and one of two passing touchdowns… White is the only other player with more than 35 receiving yards. He has five grabs for 81 yards out of the backfield… Kindrick Braxton and Andrew Worsham lead the defense with 11 tackles each… As a defense, the Captains have three sacks and two interceptions… CNU has attempted just one field goal in the first two games. Ryan Castle connected on a 24-yard attempt in the third quarter against Southern Virginia… The Captains have a bye next week before opening the NJAC schedule at home on Sept. 30 against Salisbury.