Gettysburg College Athletics

OPENING KICKOFF: Today’s Centennial Conference (CC) game marks the 88th meeting between Gettysburg (2-3, 1-1 CC) and Muhlenberg (3-2, 1-1 CC) in a series that dates back to 1907. The Mules have won the last 11 meetings in the series to draw even in the all-time series, 43-43-1. The last Gettysburg victory was by a 14-10 margin in Gettysburg on Oct. 15, 2011.

WHEN LAST WE MET: 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 season. Aidan Feulner 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. (Full Recap) (Box Score)

COACHES’ CORNER: Moe Banks is in his fifth year in charge of the Gettysburg program and fourth season with games. Banks enters today’s game with a 6-29 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… Nate Milne is in his seventh season at the helm of the Mules, winning his first seven games at the head man after serving the previous three seasons as the offensive coordinator. He enters this week with a record of 55-12 after guiding the team to a co-championship in the conference and at-large bid into the NCAA tournament in 2018, where Muhlenberg advanced to the third round of the tournament. His second saw an outright conference title and NCAA semifinal appearance. In 2021, Milne’s Mules once again claimed a share of the conference title and earned the automatic bid into the NCAA field, once again advancing to the third round. In Milne’s years as offensive coordinator and offensive line coach, the Mules compiled a record of 25-8, averaging 33.3 points and 428.0 yards per game. He spent the previous seven seasons as the offensive coordinator at Susquehanna.

LAST TIME OUT: Johns Hopkins, ranked 22nd, racked up 582 yards of total offense to record a 51-7 win over Gettysburg last Friday. Brian Smith (Fredericksburg, Va./St. John Paul the Great) led the Bullets with his first career double-digit tackle game, recording 12 on the night. James Rinello completed 18 of 25 passes for the Blue Jays, amassing 272 passing yards and two touchdowns. He also ran the ball eight times for 41 yards. (Full Recap) (Box Score)

LEADING THE WAY: Rocco Abdinoor (Edgewater, Md./St. Mary’s Annapolis) and Vic Hofman (Pasadena, Calif./Maranatha) captain the squad in 2024. Both are first-time captains. It is the first time since 2019 that the Bullets have had just two captains for a season.

SAFE WITH SMITH: Brian Smith recorded his first collegiate double-digit tackle game last Friday night against Johns Hopkins. Smith’s 12 tackles led the defense and was just the second time this season that a Gettysburg defender recorded 10 or more tackles in a game. Smith is currently second on the team in total tackles this season with 38 stops. He also has two pass breakups and a forced fumble. The sophomore safety has recorded five or more tackles in each game this season and seven or more in three of the five games. 

AGAINST THE FIELD: Jackson Field (Swampscott, Mass./Boys’ Latin School of Maryland) saw his first collegiate action as a punter last Friday night. He punted twice on the night in specialty situations where the Bullets were trying to pin the Blue Jays deep. He averaged 29.0 yards on his two kicks, forcing a pair of fair catches – one of which was inside the Johns Hopkins 20.

MISSING THE O: After the Gettysburg offense averaged more than 36 points per game through the first three games, the offense has mustered just two offensive touchdowns since the bye week. Two weeks ago against McDaniel, the Bullets scored 20 points but two of those touchdowns came from the defense. Last week against Johns Hopkins, Gettysburg scored just seven points. On Saturdays this fall, the Orange and Blue has recorded 61, 26 and 37 points.

ON THE DEFENSIVE: The Gettysburg defense has found the end zone four times through the first five games of the season. The four defensive scores are tied for the most in Division III. In fact, no team in any division of NCAA football has more. There are three teams in the FBS, three in FCS, five in Division II and six in Division III with four scores on defense.

RUNNING DOWN A DREAM: Gettysburg enters the week averaging 194.0 rushing yards per game, which ranks third in the conference and 32nd in all of Division III. Michael Zrelak (Monroe, N.Y./Monroe-Woodbury) is ranked second in the league in rushing yards at 85.2 yards per game while Rocco Abdinoor ranks fourth at 60.6 ypg. Peter Schelling (Chatham, N.J./Chatham) ranks seventh at 44.2 ypg. Muhlenberg is the only other team with three players in the top 10 on the conference’s rushing chart. Zrelak’s 7.61 yards per carry leads the league while Abdinoor’s 5.41 yards per carry is fourth. The duo is also part of a tie for second in the CC in rushing touchdowns with five each.

LIKE A BAKERY: Gettysburg has forced at least one turnover in each game this season and enter today’s game with a conference-high 10 takeaways. The Bullets have turned it over just four times this season, which is also best in the conference. The 1.20 turnover margin is not only best in the conference but ranks 24th in Division III. The Orange and Blue defense has five interceptions and five fumble recoveries this season. Four of those 10 turnovers have led directly to defensive scores while the 10 takeaways have netted 43 total points.

BULLET POINTS: Luke Denison (Madison, N.J./Madison) is first in the CC in punt returns (12.7 ypr)… The Bullets play just five games this season in the traditional 1:00 Saturday timeslot. The next time that happens is Oct. 26 at home against College of New Jersey, starting the stretch of four straight 1:00 kickoffs. Gettysburg has two noon kickoffs, including the opener, and one 3:00 Saturday kickoff along with two Friday night games. The Bullets fell to 6-17 all-time in Friday night games with the home loss to Johns Hopkins last Friday… This is Gettysburg’s first road game in five weeks… This is the first of three trophy games for Gettysburg in the final five contests. The Bullets and Mules play for the Old Tin Cup, which was first awarded in 1954.

The Mules enter today’s game off a 34-6 win at McDaniel, scoring the final 27 points to break open a 7-6 game early in the second quarter. Muhlenberg was clinging to a 14-6 lead before scoring three touchdowns in the fourth quarter. The Mules held the ball for nearly 34 minutes in the game… Joe Repetti, who leads the conference with 313.2 passing yards per game, was limited to a season-low 180 yards through the air last Saturday. Repetti has also rushed for 338 yards this season, which ranks third in the CC. Repetti entered last week with three straight 300-yard passing games and seven for his career. Last year’s CC Offensive Player of the Year, Repetti enters this weekend with 7,177 career passing yards and 89 touchdown passes… In addition to Repetti’s team-best 338 rushing yards, Amari Dunn has rushed for 298 yards. Both players have five rushing scores in 2024… Last Saturday was the first time since a season-opening 33-7 win over Moravian that the Mules allowed fewer than 50 points in a game. In the three games between, opponents were averaging 54.7 points per game. Muhlenberg has scored more than 33 points in all five games this season and enter this week tied with Ursinus as the top scoring team in the league at 42.0 ppg. The defense, however, ranks sixth at 35.4 ppg… The Mules have spread the love in the passing game with four players averaging more than 30 yards per game but no receiver averaging more that 72. Four players have multiple touchdown grabs this season. Matt McKenna has 27 catches for 360 yards and three scores. Chris Ardito has two scores among his 16 catches (275 yards). Four of Timothy Buda’s 21 grabs have gone for touchdowns. He has 236 receiving yards… Peyton Elliott leads the defense with 31 tackles, including 1.5 tackles for loss and 1.0 sacks, to go with an interception… Matt Papa has just 10 tackles this season. However, he has 4.5 tackles for loss that includes 2.5 sacks as the only Mule with multiple sacks through the first five games… Muhlenberg had more than 500 yards of total offense in each of the first four games before being held to 343 last Saturday. The 518.4 yards per game is tops in the conference.