Bullets notch first win of the season

Bullets quarterback Justin Davidov warms up prior to the Homecoming Game against Dickinson (Photo Claire Bickers / The Gettysburgian)

Bullets quarterback Justin Davidov warms up prior to the Homecoming Game against Dickinson (Photo Claire Bickers / The Gettysburgian)

By Benjamin Pontz, Managing News Editor

A two-pronged attack from senior quarterback Justin Davidov powered the Gettysburg Bullets football team to a 28-14 win against the Moravian Greyhounds yesterday, the team’s first win of the season.

Davidov, who passed for 201 yards and rushed for 95 more, orchestrated a 9-play, 80-yard drive that ended with a Bullets touchdown to open the game. Just as they had in their first two home contests, Gettysburg struck first with a fast start on offense. Today, though, they played a complete game.

Although Moravian struck back on their next play from scrimmage, a 65-yard touchdown pass, the Bullets kept their composure and scored again later in the quarter to cap an 8-play, 56-yard drive as running back Nick Rella scored his first of two touchdowns. Moravian wasted no time getting even early in the second quarter, when they tied the game at 14, but Gettysburg marched down the field once again, this time scoring via a 11-yard pass from Davidov to first-year receiver Cole Menas, who made his only reception of the day count as the Bullets took a 21-14 lead.

They would not relinquish it.

While the game had the makings of a shootout early on, each defense found its footing in the second half. The teams combined for five turnovers, all via lost fumbles, and each team stalled in the red zone once.

Gettysburg missed two opportunities to extend their lead due to missed field goals, but Rella’s second touchdown run in the fourth quarter sealed the Bullets’ first victory of the season after losing last week on the road in overtime to McDaniel.

Next week, they will travel to Juniata to play a 2-3 team fresh off its own overtime tilt with McDaniel … Juniata won 42-41 yesterday.

By the numbers

 

  • 9-for-17: The Bullets converted nine of their seventeen attempts on third down, which proved crucial in extending drives and scoring points — Moravian went just 4-for-16 on their third down attempts.
  • -6: Gettysburg’s total point differential on the season; after having lost their first four games by a combined total of 20 points, the Bullets’ 14-point victory today cuts their average point differential to just -1.2 points per game … their 1-4 record masks the fact that the team has been in every game they have played.
  • 27 rushing yards for first-year tailback Reggie JeanCharles on 14 carries; after notching 170 yards against Ursinus in the home opener, JeanCharles has consistently regressed in recent weeks to today’s game, in which he averaged fewer than two yards per attempt. While Davidov picked up the slack in the running game, the Bullets will need JeanCharles at full capacity down the stretch.
  • 41.3 average yards per punt by sophomore Evan Tannenbaum compared to just 28.8 for Moravian. The Bullets won the field position battle, which helped their offense reach paydirt and their defense get stops when they needed them.
  • 70 push-ups completed by Gettysburg College cheerleaders, who do one for each point on the scoreboard every time the Bullets score.
  • 724 people estimated to be in attendance, a fairly sparse crowd given the picturesque fall afternoon: it was sunny and in the mid-60s.

Author: Benjamin Pontz

Benjamin Pontz '20 served as Editor-in-Chief of The Gettysburgian from 2018 until 2020, Managing News Editor from 2017 until 2018, News Editor in the spring of 2017, and Staff Writer during the fall of 2016. During his tenure, he wrote 232 articles. He led teams that won two first place Keystone Press Awards for ongoing news coverage (once of Bob Garthwait's resignation, and the other of Robert Spencer's visit to campus) and was part of the team that wrote a first-place trio of editorials in 2018. He also received recognition for a music review he wrote in 2019. A political science and public policy major with a music minor, he graduated in May of 2020 and will pursue a master's degree in public policy on a Fulbright Scholarship at the University of Manchester before enrolling in law school.

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