Gettysburg College Athletics

OPENING KICKOFF: Tonight’s Centennial Conference (CC) game marks the 51st meeting between Gettysburg (2-2, 1-0 CC) and No. 22 Johns Hopkins (3-1, 0-0 CC) in a series that dates back to 1911. The Blue Jays lead the all-time series 28-20-2, including wins in the last 15 meetings. The last Gettysburg win was a 41-10 victory in Baltimore on Sept. 14, 2007.

WHEN LAST WE MET: Johns Hopkins, ranked ninth at the time, raced out to a 28-0 lead en route to a 49-28 victory over Gettysburg last season. Peter Schelling (Chatham, N.J./Chatham) ran the ball 13 times for a season-high 95 yards and two touchdowns. Ryan McAndrew made eight catches for 136 yards, recording his first 100-yard receiving game of the season. He also had a touchdown grab. Bay Harvey completed 18 of 20 passes for 288 yards and four touchdowns in just one half of action at quarterback for the Blue Jays. (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 6-28 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… Dan Wodicka is in his first season as head coach at Johns Hopkins and enters tonight’s game with a 3-1 record. A 2014 Johns Hopkins graduate spent the last two seasons as defensive coordinator before being promoted to James F. Margraff Head Coach of Football on Feb. 1, 2024. During 10 seasons with the program (four as a player and six as an assistant coach), Wodicka helped Johns Hopkins to a record of 100-16 (.862), eight Centennial Conference titles, eight trips to the NCAA Playoffs and two Centennial-MAC Bowl victories. In addition to his two seasons as the defensive coordinator, Wodicka spent three years as the team’s special teams coordinator and defensive line coach (2019-21) and two years as the wide receivers coach (2014-15).

LAST TIME OUT: The Gettysburg defense scored on a pair of interceptions returned for touchdowns in the second half to provide the difference in a 20-7 win over McDaniel in the CC opener for both teams last Friday. Nate DeLorenzo (Virginia Beach, Va./Norfolk Academy) had the first pick-6 for the Bullets while adding a team-high nine tackles to go with a pass breakup. Angel Granada led the Green Terror with a 17-for-30 night for 175 yards but had the two interceptions and just one touchdown. He also ran the ball 20 times for 82 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.

HEAD OF THE CLASS: Junior Nate DeLorenzo was named the CC Defensive Player of the Week for the second time this season after returning an interception for a touchdown and registering a team-high nine tackles on Friday night. With the Bullets trailing 7-6 in the middle of the third quarter, DeLorenzo caught a tipped pass and ran 52 yards for a touchdown to give the Bullets the lead for good. It was his third defensive touchdown of the season and second pick-six.

LIGHT ’EM UP: Gettysburg christened the new lights of Shirk Field at Musselman Stadium last Friday night with the first-ever night game at the stadium that opened in 1965. The Bullets are 1-0 in home night games with the 20-7 victory over McDaniel. Overall, Gettysburg is now 6-16 in Friday night games since 1988. The Green Terror was just the fifth different opponent the Bullets have faced on a Friday night. The only other teams that the Bullets have faced on Friday nights are Hampden-Sydney (1988), Dickinson (2010, 2012) and Bridgewater (2015, 2017). Gettysburg’s last Friday night win before last week was at Bridgewater to open the 2015 season, 49-10.

FRIDAY NIGHT LIGHTS, PART DEUX: Tonight marks the 23rd time Gettysburg has played a Friday night football game since 1988. Of the previous 22, 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 this season. This marks the first time the Bullets have played two night games in the same season since 2019 and the first time they have played two Friday night games since 2017. Both years the opponents were Bridgewater and Johns Hopkins.

ON THE DEFENSIVE: The Gettysburg defense found the end zone as many times on Friday night against McDaniel as both offenses did. The Bullets recorded a pair of pick-sixes in the same game for the first time under Moe Banks. Nate DeLorenzo and Nathan LaRosa (Montpelier, Vt./Montpelier) both intercepted the Green Terror and returned it to house in the second half to overcome a one-point halftime deficit. The seven points allowed by Gettysburg was a season-low for a defense that entered the week ranked sixth of the seven teams in the CC, allowing 38.7 points per game.

MANY HAPPY RETURNS: The Bullets enter this week with the most interceptions returned for touchdowns in Division III with three after Nate DeLorenzo and Nathan LaRosa both had a pick-six last week. The Bullets’ four defensive touchdowns are currently tied for the most in all of NCAA football. There are only 12 teams in any division of NCAA football with four defensive touchdowns. Ohio Wesleyan (three interceptions, one fumble), Ohio Northern (three interceptions, one fumble), Linfield (three interceptions, one fumble) and Centenary (three fumbles, one interception) are the other Division III teams with four defensive touchdowns.

RUNNING DOWN A DREAM: Gettysburg is one of three teams in the CC to enter this week averaging more than 200 yards per game rushing. The Bullets are currently ranked second at 209.3 ypg. Michael Zrelak (Monroe, N.Y./Monroe-Woodbury) is ranked second in the league in rushing yards at 97.0 yards per game while Rocco Abdinoor ranks fourth at 65.3 ypg. Gettysburg is the only team in the league with two players in the top five in rushing. Zrelak’s 8.26 yards per carry leads the league while Abdinoor’s 6.07 yards per carry is fourth. The duo is also 2-3 in the CC in rushing touchdowns, combining for nine scores.

LUCKY 7s: Gettysburg held an opponent to just seven points for the second time in Moe Banks’ tenure as head coach. Both times were McDaniel’s two trips up Route 97 to Gettysburg in the last four seasons. In 2021, the Green Terror won a defensive slobberknocker 7-3 in the penultimate week of the season. McDaniel scored on a 17-yard touchdown late in the second quarter of that game and on a four-yard pass play early in the second quarter last week. Four of the last six times the Bullets defense has limited an opponent to single digits, it has been the Green Terror that has failed to crack double digits on the scoreboard.

BULLET POINTS: Luke Denison (Madison, N.J./Madison) is first in the CC in punt returns (14.6 ypr)… The Bullets have scored 20 or more points in all four games this season. Muhlenberg and Ursinus at the only other CC teams that have also accomplished that feat. Those three teams are all averaging 35 or more points per game this season… Gettysburg has gone for two points seven times in the last nine 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 Blue Jays enter tonight’s game off a 20-13 win over Rowan in their final non-conference game of the season. PJ Penders returned an interception 31 yards for a touchdown with 1:47 remaining in the fourth quarter and Carter Hogg intercepted a pass in the end zone with 18 seconds remaining to help the Blue Jays to the Friday night home win. Rowan outgained Johns Hopkins 318-253 in the game. James Rinello made his first collegiate start for the Blue Jays, going 12-for-22 for 139 yards and two touchdowns… Bay Harvey threw for 613 yards in the first three games of the season, completing more than 59 percent (49 of 83) of his passes with four touchdowns. He also ran the ball for 148 yards and three scores. He missed the entirety of the Rowan game last week and is not on the projected depth chart for this weekend’s game… No Johns Hopkins quarterback has thrown an interception this season… Johns Hopkins is in an unfamiliar spot offensively this year. The Blue Jays are sixth in the league in scoring offense (18.5 ppg) and total offense (306.8 ypg). Only McDaniel has a worse offense in the conference. JHU, however, is tied for second in scoring defense at 20.0 ppg… Harvey is the only Blue Jays with a rushing touchdown this season. Only Geoff Schroeder has run for more than 150 yards, toting the ball 52 times for 176 yards in four games… PJ Scales has half of Johns Hopkins’ receiving touchdowns. Three of his 12 grabs have gone for scores. He is second on the team with 139 receiving yards… EJ Talarico has 210 yards and one touchdown on 16 receptions… Ryan McAndrew – a grad transfer from Gettysburg – has seen action in three games, making six receptions for 73 yards… Cole Peters leads the defense with 36 tackles, including 2.5 for loss… Jack Schondelmayer has two of the Blue Jays’ five interceptions this season. He also has 19 tackles and a pass breakup… Will Seibert has 2.0 sacks…Johns Hopkins has not scored more than 27 points in any game this season. The Blue Jays scored 20 or more in all 13 games last season and 34 or more in each of the final 11. JHU had failed to reach the 27-point mark just twice in the previous three seasons combined… The Blue Jays have now won 16 straight home Friday night games… Johns Hopkins opens its conference schedule this evening as the preseason favorite to repeat as the CC champs. The Blue Jays garnered 34 points, including four first-place votes, to edge Muhlenberg (31 points, two first place).