Kicker’s Corner: Inside the Huddle

Photo courtesy of Gettysburg College website. Senior Kyle Wigley gained 134 yards on 25 carries against No. 8 Johns Hopkins.

Photo courtesy of Gettysburg College website. Senior Kyle Wigley gained 134 yards on 25 carries against No. 8 Johns Hopkins.

By Jared McCully, Staff Writer

In a disappointing defeat, the Gettysburg Bullets (5-2) fell to the Johns Hopkins University Blue Jays (7-0) in a 36-7 decision that pushed the victors to No. 8 overall in the nation. To many of the parents visiting the campus this weekend, the Blue Jays may have appeared to be wearing bullet proof vests, due to Gettysburg’s inability to penetrate the Hopkins’ defense. Despite the scoreboard disparity, the Bullets performed with maximum effort even with a multitude of injuries.

Johns Hopkins was coming off a 25 game win streak, which the Bullets looked to end at the Shirk. The Blue Jays are very sizeable team, with several players edging near 6 “10” and 300 pounds they are not the typical Division III lineup.

Hopkins’ offensive strengths were evident in their quarterback Jon Germano’s athletic abilities throughout the game. Germano finished 21-33 for 180 yards along with one touchdown and one interception. The Blue Jay’s quarterback also ran for a respectable 49 yards and a touchdown.

Throughout the game, turnovers proved to be one of the most devastating factors that knocked the Bullets out of the game. A Gettysburg fumble at the goal line, stopped an opportunity for the Bullets to reach within striking distance of the Blue Jays. Several interceptions and fumbles set Gettysburg back in terms of momentum. Statistically, winning a game committing five turnovers is nearly impossible.

With Johns Hopkins closing out the first half 22-0, Gettysburg came out of the locker room with some revitalized confidence and was lead to the end zone with a 1 yard run by senior quarterback Sam McDermott. Unfortunately, those were the only points the Bullets were able to muster for the remainder of the game as the defense began to tire and injuries knocked a couple Gettysburg players out of the game.

In the fourth quarter, Gettysburg was still trying to make a comeback, but a late hit on Sam McDermott knocked the Gettysburg captain out of the game. An earlier injury to star tailback senior Kyle Wigley seemed to slow the runner down, but he still managed to run for 134 yards. Along with several bruises on the offensive line, Gettysburg was running into continuing obstacles.

Senior linebacker Kodie McNamara contributed 12 tackles while junior Chris Miller added a team high of 14 tackles. McNamara is now only 9 tackles away from being second all time on the Gettysburg tackle records. Overall, the defense held their own for the most part, but after staying on the field for such an extensive time, the Blue Jays were able to deplete the Bullets’ ammunition.

The J.V. squad beat Muhlenberg 18-16 Monday night, with strong performances from a short handed team.

Gettysburg’s next game will be at Moravian College (6-1) on Saturday at 1pm.

Author: Web Editor

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