THE FACTS
Montclair State (1-0) 27, Gettysburg (1-1) 26
What: Non-conference football game
When: Saturday, Sept. 14
Where: Montclair, N.J.
THE SKINNY STORY
Montclair outscored Gettysburg 9-6 in the fourth quarter, including converting a 19-yard field goal attempt as time expired to snatch a victory, 27-26.
THE LEADERS
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Walle Harwigsson Lundblad (Malmo, Sweden/Rabun Gap Nacoochee School) led the Bullets with seven catches for 79 yards and two touchdowns.
•
Rocco Abdinoor (Edgewater, Md./St. Mary's Annapolis) racked up 229 yards of total offense, completing 18 of 36 passes for 190 yards and three touchdowns while also running 10 times for 39 yards.
FOR THE FOES
• Henry Lewis led the Red Hawks with 88 yards rushing on 13 carries with two touchdowns.
• Nicholas Burgess paced the defense with 13 tackles.
THE REST OF THE STORY
• After forcing a field-goal attempt that Montclair missed on the game's opening possession, the Gettysburg offense took over at its own 20 with 10:50 to play. The drive appeared to stall near midfield but a running into the kicker penalty gave the Bullets a first down and kept the drive going. Another 11 plays that included a conversion on a fake field goal finished up a 20-play drive that ended with a
Walle Harwigsson Lundblad one-yard touchdown grab. The PAT was missed to keep it a 6-0 game with 33 seconds left in the opening quarter.
• Montclair fumbled the ensuing kickoff attempt, setting up the Gettysburg offense at the Red Hawk 27. On the sixth play of the drive,
Rocco Abdinoor found
Benjamin Mapp (Lutherville-Timonium, Md./Boys' Latin School of Maryland) in the back corner of the end zone on fourth-and-4 for a 13-0 lead with 14:08 to play. Henry Lewis, however, paid off a 10-play, 50-yard drive with a one-yard touchdown but a missed PAT kept it 13-6 with 1:23 showing. Ryan Visalli picked off a tipped pass, giving Montclair the ball at the Gettysburg 28 with 40 seconds to play. Another Henry rushing score cut the margin to 13-12 but another missed point-after attempt kept the Bullets in front by one at the break.
• The Red Hawks started their opening drive of the second half at the one-yard line but moved the ball into Gettysburg territory in eight plays. However, a
Nate DeLorenzo (Virginia Beach, Va./Norfolk Academy) 66-yard interception return for a touchdown stretched the Gettysburg lead to 20-13 with 7:11 remaining. After forcing a punt, the Bullets drove inside the Red Hawk 15 but the drive stalled and they were forced to attempt a 29-yard field goal. It was blocked and Visalli retuned the kick for a touchdown but Gettysburg stuffed the potential game-tying two-point attempt to keep it a 20-18 game with 1:07 remaining.
• Montclair forced a turnover on downs, taking over at its own 16 with 9:28 to play. A third-down penalty call kept the drive alive before Aidan McLaughlin found Jamie Hamilton at the pylon for a 24-yard touchdown catch with 4:02 to play. On the ensuing Gettysburg drive, Abdinoor found
Luke Denison (Madison, N.J./Madison) for a 16-yard gain on fourth-and-14 to keep the march going into Red Hawk territory. Three plays later, Abdinoor connected with Harwigsson in the back of the end zone for a 34-yard strike to take a 26-24 lead with 56 seconds left. The Bullets opted for a two-point conversation but the pass attempt was no good. On a second-and-20, Montclair took a deep shot and McLaughin connected with Ahmirr Robinson for a 46-yard gain over the middle to move the ball to the Gettysburg 19. Four plays later, the Red Hawks moved inside the one-yard line before calling timeout with four seconds left to set up for the game-winning field goal. Greg Casimir hit the 19-yarder as time expired for the win.
THE INSIDE STORY
•
Nate DeLorenzo has two defensive touchdowns in the first two games. Last week, he had a fumble return for a touchdown before returning an interception for a touchdown in this game. He also had six tackles and a blocked kick.
• Montclair finished with a 373-346 advantage in total yards.
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Kossi Agbo (Silver Spring, Md./Northwood) and
Arthur Stubbs (Ewing, N.J./Lawrence) both had eight tackles to lead the Bullets defense.
NEXT UP
Gettysburg returns to action in the home opener against Christopher Newport on Saturday. Game time is 1 p.m.
