By Jack Herr, Sports Editor
Just when fans of Gettysburg football may have been starting to worry, the team trounced Centennial Conference opponent Juniata on Saturday for their first victory of the season. Winning by a score of 40-14, the team hopes to ride the momentum from this landslide and rejuvenate the young season.
From the opening possession, Gettysburg arguably had control of this contest. Forcing a three-and-out, the Bullets took over at their own 38-yard line and set their sights on the endzone. Quarterback Rocco Abdinoor ’26 led the charge, hitting his receivers and contributing rushing yards of his own as the Bullets moved down the field. On a second and ten, running back Sebastian Gibbs ’23 took the ball from the edge of the redzone to the Juniata seven-yard line. The very next play, he caught a touchdown pass from Abdinoor, giving Gettysburg the early 6-0 lead (Doug Cummings ’23 missed the extra point attempt) with under nine minutes left in the first.
The teams exchanged punts a few times until just under two minutes left in the first, when running back Peter Schelling ’24 secured the handoff and raced 55 yards down the field for Gettysburg’s second touchdown. Cummings’ extra point made it a 13-0 game heading into the second quarter.
Midway through the second quarter, Juniata pieced together a five-and-a-half minute drive that ended in a touchdown, getting the team on the scoreboard. Quarterback Noah Wright, who finished with 315 yards and two touchdowns, found Julian Jackson for the culminating play of the drive, the thirty-yard touchdown and extra point putting Gettysburg’s lead in danger. The Bullets trudged down the field once again but missed a field goal attempt before the end of the first half.
The Bullets soon had another chance to score, though, having elected to receive in the second half. Schelling contributed in a big way to this effort, snagging a throw from his quarterback for a 48-yard reception that brought Gettysburg into enemy territory. After a couple of clutch first-down conversions, Abdinoor took it himself on the ground across the goal line, putting the Bullets up 19-7 after another failed PAT.
A recap of this game would be incomplete without mentioning the stalwart Bullets defense. They forced two turnovers, held the Eagles to only 16 first-downs (compared to 26 for Gettysburg), and kept their offense on the field. Linebacker Tommy Megna ’23 led his team with eight tackles (seven solo), and defensive back Matt Mikulka ’24 tallied an interception in the fourth quarter.
The Bullets were not done in the third, though. With 3:47 on the clock, the Bullets started just ahead of midfield at the Juniata 49. They reached the redzone, but a holding penalty on the next play put them nine yards out of it. Luckily, Schelling came through again, rushing 29 yards to the endzone for his second touchdown of the day. A successful Cummings extra point gave the Bullets a comfortable 26-7 lead.
The fourth quarter featured much of the same domination by the Bullets. Running back Nick Riggio ’23 got in on the fun and notched a four-yard rushing touchdown to end the Bullets’ first drive of the quarter. With only three minutes left in the game, Juniata’s chances of comeback were waning, and the aforementioned Megna put the nail in the coffin. On a third-and-goal, a play the Eagles desperately needed to convert, Megna intercepted the ball at the one-yard line and returned it 99 yards for the coveted pick-six. This was the first interception returned for a touchdown for Gettysburg since 2014. Cummings nailed the ball through the uprights to make it 40-14, the final score.
A huge win for the Bullets only ups the ante for their next contest. They stay on the road and head to Muhlenberg this upcoming Saturday, Oct 1 at 1 p.m. for another Centennial Conference battle on the gridiron.
