By Benjamin Pontz, Managing News Editor
The Gettysburg Bullets football team has now lost its first three games of the season by a combined 13 points. On Saturday, the Bullets fell to Dickinson on a field goal as time expired, having squandered a 14-point lead in the second half to lose 24-21 against the rival Red Devils.
Once again, a fast start was no problem for the Bullets. After the defense forced a three-and-out on Dickinson’s opening possession, Gettysburg scored on just its second offensive play, a pass from Justin Davidov to Ryan Thompson, who pranced to the right side for a 57-yard score.
Later in the quarter, the Bullets offense — which seemed almost unstoppable early on — struck again; on what appeared to be a broken play, Davidov flipped a shovel pass to first-year tailback Reggie JeanCharles, who picked up 43 yards. Shortly thereafter, junior tailback Nick Rella ran for a three-yard touchdown as the Bullets took a 14-0 lead.
As the game pressed on, however, the Bullets defense, which had no trouble getting pressure on Dickinson quarterback Robert Geiss in the first half, when it notched five of its eight sacks, wore down and committed some sloppy penalties including back-to-back personal foul calls on the Red Devils’ final drive of the game. Dickinson gained 30 of its 48 yards on that drive via penalties, and, ultimately, their kicker, Ethan Fusco, made a 31-yard field goal as time expired to take the victory.
The Bullets will look for their first win on the road next week against McDaniel, who is 2-1 on the season.
By The Numbers
- 38:21, the time of possession for Dickinson (out of 60:00), who controlled the ball, particularly down the stretch, and wore down Gettysburg’s defense, which made several unforced errors in the final quarter
- 19 total penalties between the two teams (10 for Gettysburg, 9 for Dickinson) in a game when the officials certainly stayed busy; in addition to the two aforementioned personal fouls, Gettysburg jumped offsides when Dickinson lined up to attempt a fourth down conversion deep in its own territory, extending the possession at a time when Gettysburg needed some momentum (an interception in the end zone later ended the drive, but cost the Bullets time of possession and field position)
- 85 receiving yards for sophomore wingback Kevin Benavente, a career-high to go along with 6 receptions, also a career-best
- 50 rushing yards for first-year tailback Reggie JeanCharles, who found fewer holes than last week, when he notched 170 against Ursinus; he did rush for an 11-yard touchdown in the third quarter that extended Gettysburg’s lead to 21-7
- 42 push-ups completed by Gettysburg College cheerleaders, who do one for each point Gettysburg has scored each time they score
- 2685 people were estimated to be in attendance for the Homecoming game on a balmy Saturday afternoon as temperatures reached into the 80s with a minimal breeze
