Football Still Searching for First Win
Kevin Burke ’90 is remaining positive even as his team has started the season 0-5 (File photo)
By John Zak, Staff Writer
The Gettysburg College Football team suffered another tough loss last Saturday against Moravian, falling 33-16 in the Homecoming Weekend matchup.
Moravian managed to score on the first drive by rushing 42 yards on 5 carries before scoring a 6-yard rushing touchdown.
The Bullets kept it competitive however by answering Moravian’s opening drive with First-year quarterback Logan Edmond tossing a 78-yard pass to sophomore wide receiver Al DeBenedetto that put the Bullets offense in the red zone.
Edmond then managed to rush for an 11-yard touchdown that with the made extra point gave the Bullets a 7-6 lead in the first quarter.
Moravian then responded with an air attack that was highlighted by a 45-yard completion and ended with a Moravian touchdown, making the score 13-7 at the end of the first quarter.
During the second quarter, the Bullets led a drive that ended in a turnover on downs that Moravian capitalized on by again launching a pass attack that included six completed passes and a Moravian touchdown that put the Bullets behind 20-7.
Later in the first half, the Bullets made it into field goal range where senior kicker Justin Geisel made a 28-yard field goal to make the game 20-10.
Following this score, Moravian got a 41-yard kick return. Capitalizing on this favorable field position Moravian managed another passing touchdown to put the score at 26-10 by the end of the first half.
At the start of the second half, the Bullets offense appeared sharp and efficient, launching a successful 16 play 88 yard drive that ended in a Bullets touchdown by Junior halfback Matt Welsh who ran it into the end zone from the one yard line to put the game at 26-16. Gettysburg failed the 2-point conversion.
The score remained the same until the fourth quarter when Moravian made yet again another passing touchdown, this time a 30-yard toss that put Moravian up 33-16.
In the final three minutes of the game, the Bullets attempted a 33-yard field goal that was blocked and the Moravian team subsequently ran out the clock. This made the final score 33-16 and put the Bullets team at 0-5. Moravian has now won 5 out of the last 7 match ups against the Gettysburg.
During the game, First-year quarterback Logan Edmond went 12-27 with 182 passing yards and a completion percentage of 44.4 percent, while rushing for 125 yards.
Junior halfback Matt Welsh rushed for 48 yards on 15 carries and a touchdown while First-year wide receiver Matt Mulcahy rushed for 43 yards on 9 carries, collected two receptions for 20 yards, and managed to block a punt. Sophomore wide receiver Winwood Nicolas Jr. had 5 receptions for a total of 43 yards.
Defensively, notable performances included sophomore linebacker Alex Stillman who recorded 15 tackles with .5 of a tackle for a loss while fellow sophomore linebacker Mike Galaida recorded 8 tackles and 2.5 tackles for a loss.
The Homecoming Weekend game against Moravian characterized a season where the bullets have struggled to find chemistry over the course of this year. The team now sits at 0-5, with all of these losses coming by more than one possession.
However, the team boasts a roster of youth that includes mostly underclassmen, giving this team reason to look optimistically towards the future as the rest of this season can now be utilized to bolster a sense of team chemistry for these young players aimed at success in the future.
Second year coach Kevin Burke commented about the youth of his team in an interview with Gettysburg Athletics, “Everybody is trying to help the younger guys get better. That’s the amazing thing about college football. You know you’re developing something special if you can see guys that are competing against each other that are also helping each other. That’s what we’re trying to teach – put your individual goals aside for the best of the team.”
Coach Burke’s statement underscores the importance placed on developing younger players this season in the hopes leads to more long-term success for the team. The football team will continue their season with a road game against Juniata next Saturday at 1 pm. Juniata is 2-3 overall on the year.
