Gettysburg College Athletics

OPENING KICKOFF: Tonight’s Centennial Conference (CC) opener marks the 77th meeting between Gettysburg (1-2, 0-0 CC) and McDaniel (1-2, 0-0 CC) in a series that dates back to 1891. The Bullets lead the all-time series 52-23-1 and snapped a five-game Green Terror winning streak in the series last year in Westminster.

WHEN LAST WE MET: Gettysburg jumped out to a 24-7 halftime lead and held off a fourth-quarter surge to topple McDaniel 27-20 in the CC opener for both teams last season. Rocco Abdinoor (Edgewater, Md./St. Mary’s Annapolis) led the Bullets with 151 yards on 13 of 32 passing, adding two touchdowns. He also ran the ball 14 times for 117 yards. Matt Mikulka led the defense with nine tackles, including 2.0 for loss, and recovered the onside kick that allowed Gettysburg to run out the clock and secure the win. Tony Miller completed 15 of 24 passes for the Green Terror for 186 yards. Sean Carter caught 12 passes for 137 yards. (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 5-28 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… Skyler Fultz is in his first season as head coach at McDaniel and enters tonight with an overall record of 1-2 in charge of his alma mater. The 2011 graduate Fultz came to Westminster after spending the previous nine years at King’s, including the 2023 season as head coach. Fultz led the Monarchs to a record-breaking season in 2023, posting an 8-3 record, including a mark of 7-2 in the MAC with its second consecutive Centennial-MAC Bowl Series appearance. King’s earned a program-best 13 All-MAC selections, including the program’s first MAC Offensive Player of the Year since 2000. Fultz spent his first eight years in Wilkes-Barre as an assistant coach with the Monarchs working with the quarterbacks. He was promoted to offensive coordinator prior to the 2017 season.

LAST TIME OUT: Two weeks ago, Christopher Newport outscored Gettysburg 28-0 in the second quarter to build a 40-7 lead en route to a 54-37 win. Rocco Abdinoor led the Bullets to with 216 yards passing and two touchdowns. He also ran for another 104 and two scores. Barry Connor completed 12 of 15 passes for 260 yards with two touchdowns in the first half. (Full Recap) (Box Score)

LEADING THE WAY: Rocco Abdinoor 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.

OPENING STATEMENTS: Gettysburg had dropped its previous five CC openers until a 27-20 win at McDaniel last season. The Bullets are 19-21 all-time in CC lidlifters. Last season marked the first time since 2006 that the Bullets and Green Terror were the opening conference foe on each other’s schedule. The two rivals squared off in CC lidlifters for the first 24 years of the league with Gettysburg holding a slight 13-11 advantage before four straight openers against Johns Hopkins (1-3). Nine straight years of opening against Ursinus followed the Bullets going 4-5 before Moravian defeated Gettysburg in the opener in 2021 and 2022.

FRIDAY NIGHT LIGHTS: Tonight marks the 22nd time Gettysburg has played a Friday night football game since 1988. However, it is the first time that it has happened on Shirk Field at Musselman Stadium. Of the previous 21, 16 have been a trip to Homewood Field to take on Johns Hopkins under the lights. The Blue Jays are 13-3 in Friday night games and will make their first trip to Gettysburg on a Friday night next week. McDaniel is just the fifth different Friday night opponent for the Bullets. In addition to Johns Hopkins, the only other teams that the Bullets have faced on Friday nights are Hampden-Sydney (1988), Dickinson (2007, 2009) and Bridgewater (2015, 2017). Gettysburg’s last Friday night win was at Bridgewater to open the 2015 season, 49-10.

LIKE A ROCCO: Rocco Abdinoor recorded his second 200-yard passing and 100-yard rushing game of the season two weeks ago against Christopher Newport. He opened the year with 389 yards of total offense at Juniata, throwing for 266 and two scores and running for another 123 and two touchdowns. HE was limited to just 39 yards on the ground at Montclair before breaking back out against the Captains. The junior signal caller threw for 217 yards and three touchdowns while running for another 104 and two scores. It was his second straight game with three passing touchdowns and second game this year with multiple scores with both his arm and feet. He enters conference play ranked second in the conference in total offense, averaging 313.0 yards per game. Only Muhlenberg’s Joe Repetti, who is throwing for 352.7 per game, is ahead of him at 419.3 yards per game.

GETTING OFFENSIVE: Through the first three games of the season, the offense has been on a roll. Gettysburg has put up 26 or more points in all three games. It is the first time the Bullets have put up 26 or more in any three-game stretch since a four-game run of 35 or more between Sept. 10 and Oct. 1, 2016. During that period, Gettysburg scored 42 (at Ursinus), 35 (vs. Juniata), 40 (at Susquehanna) and 38 (vs. McDaniel). The 124 points scored this season is the most through the first three games of a season since the 2012 season started with 146 points through the first three contests. That season included a 70-0 opening weekend win over Misericordia before defeating Ursinus 48-7 and Juniata 28-7. Gettysburg scored fewer than 31 points just once that season as part of a 375-point season.

DOUBLE YOUR PLEASURE: The Bullets have had a receiver catch multiple touchdowns in each of the first three games. Walle Harwigsson made it back-to-back weeks with two scores against Christopher Newport. He caught a 54-yard touchdown in the first quarter and then hauled in a 33-yarder in the fourth. At Montclair, he found the end zone twice for first time in his career with grabs from one yard out in the first quarter and 32 yards out in the fourth quarter. Jason Roskam (Randolph, N.J./Randolph) caught two scoring passes from Rocco Abdinoor at Juniata. His touchdowns came from 41 yards and 53 yards.

GOING LONG: Rocco Abdinoor ripped off an 83-yard touchdown run on the second play of the second half against Christopher Newport two weeks ago. It was Gettysburg’s longest offensive play since Logan Edmond and Sal DeBenedello connected on a 98-yard pass play on Oct. 19, 2019 at Juniata. It was the Bullets’ longest rush since Ted Delia went for 83 against Susquehanna on Sept. 24, 2011. As a team this year, Gettysburg has 25 plays of 20 yards or longer, including nine rushes and 10 passes. Walle Harwigsson has five of those 10 explosive pass plays while Michael Zrelak (Monroe, N.Y./Monroe-Woodbury) has five of the rushes that have gone for 20 or more yards. Abdinoor has the other four long runs. Four other players have combined to catch the other five balls of 20 or longer.

BULLET POINTS: Rocco Abdinoor and Michael Zrelak are 2-3 in the conference in rushing yards per game. The duo is averaging a combined 199.4 yards per game on the ground… Luke Denison (Madison, N.J./Madison) is second in the CC in punt returns (14.6 ypr)… Gettysburg has gone for two points five times in the last five quarters… 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 Green Terror enter the conference opener off the bye week. Two weeks ago, McDaniel dropped a 27-14 home decision to William Paterson. The Pioneers scored 27 straight points over a stretch of 23 minutes, 39 seconds. The Green Terror scored the first touchdown and final touchdown of the game. William Paterson outgained its hosts 321-151 on the day, including limiting McDaniel to just 40 rushing yards. Eric Grinwis completed 8 of 20 passes for 76 yards while Angel Granado went 4-for-12 through the air for just 35 yards and threw two interceptions. He also ran the ball 13 times for 32 net yards. Alex Brown led the defense with nine tackles, including 3.5 for loss. He also forced a fumble… The Green Terror has scored just 41 points in the first three games this season. After defeating Catholic 7-3 in the opener, McDaniel fell 30-20 at Rowan. The 13.7 points per game is the worst in the conference as are the Green Terror’s 216.3 yards per game of total offense. McDaniel is averaging just 46.3 yards per game on the ground – more than 40 yards fewer than any other Centennial Conference team – and 170.0 through the air… Defensively, however, McDaniel ranks third in scoring defense (20.0 ppg), fourth in total defense (307.3 ypg) and second in pass defense (154.3 ypg)… Micajah Cobbs has a team-high 108 yards rushing this season, 83 of which came in the opener against the Cardinals… Grinwis is completing just 53.8 percent (43 of 80) of his passes and has thrown five interceptions against just three touchdown passes… Grayson Wendel has been the top target in the pass game, making 12 grabs for 155 yards… Wesley Nchinda, however, has caught a touchdown on a quarter of his receptions. Two of his eight grabs have been for scores. He has 80 yards receiving… Bailey Himes and Brown lead the defense. Himes has 22 tackles on the year while Brown has 21. Brown has 4.5 tackles for loss while both have three pass breakups… The Green Terror has dropped 10 straight road games, dating back to a 35-19 win at Juniata on Sept. 10, 2022.