Bullets Under the Lights! Musselman Stadium’s First Ever Nighttime Game
The Bullets won the first under the lights football game against McDaniel. (William Oehler/The Gettysburgian)
This article originally appeared on page 8 and 9 of the No. 2 October 2024 edition of The Gettysburgian magazine.
By Max Ferguson, Staff Writer
For the first time in College history, the Bullets football team played a home game at night under the newly installed lights in Musselman Stadium. The lights were a part of last year’s numerous fundraising campaigns put on by a group of alumni and families of students that led the charge for stadium renovations.
The first ever event to be held under these new lights was a Friday night football game against McDaniel College, the first of its kind to ever take place on Gettysburg College’s campus. The football team is not the only team that will benefit from the installation of lights at Musselman Stadium. Field hockey, men’s lacrosse, and men’s and women’s track and field all call Musselman Stadium home. Likewise, all of these sports had a hand in securing the funding to renovate the stadium.
The first Friday night game at the stadium, held on Oct. 4, was celebrated with much fanfare. The College administration put a great deal of effort into promoting the game. Leading up to the game, the College posted several promotional graphics and videos on the College’s Instagram promoting the game.
The game was preceded by a tailgate for students, staff, families and the wider community to come together prior to the game to rally spirit for the event. Campus groups were allocated tailgate spots on the lawn next to the Jaeger Center to set up tents and lawn games. The College provided a catered barbecue dinner that students could swipe in to as Servo was closed during this time to allocate the people needed to run the tailgate. Keeping servo closed was also an effective means of driving the student body to the event itself. The tailgate was also a host provider event, where students, parents, and family over the age of 21 could acquire alcohol before the game.
The high spirits were maintained going into the game thanks to the rest of the student-athlete body and the marching band, which marched through campus to perform at the tailgate before marching to the stadium.
Leading into the game, every other college sports team participated in a parade from the Jaeger Center into the stadium into their own student section. The student section packed out to support their football team and the support could be continued thanks to the energy brought about by the night game atmosphere.
Athena Komitas ’26 commented, “It was fun. I feel like I would go back to another football game after that.”
Rallying off student support, especially in a Division III program, is crucial to the overall health and success of the program. Unlike larger programs, a Division III school in a small market area like Gettysburg does not have the same capacity to tap into its fanbase. Keeping a loyal, engaged student section is mutually beneficial to both fans and players. For fans, an engaged crowd enhances the experience of attending a football game. For players, it creates a sense of pride that there are people in the stands invested in your success.
Gettysburg was in the hunt for a win. The pressure on to win given the commotion caused by the school about this being the first ever night game. Moreover, Gettysburg smelled blood in the water after the Bullets took a road trip to Westminster where the Bullets beat McDaniel 27-20. Last year’s conference opener ended with an iconic fake punt to ice the game, asserting Gettysburg’s dominance over the Green Terror.
Being Gettysburg’s first ever night game is not the only reason this matchup holds significance. For the first time ever, Division III teams now have access to replay review. The Centennial Conference is the first at the Division III level to bring this technology to the division. Given this game also served as the opener of conference play, it also marks the first ever time Division III coaches have had a red challenge flag in their back pocket.
As for the game itself, the Bullets spent the first half adjusting to their first conference opponent after giving Juniata a beatdown in their first week but falling to Christopher Newport at Gettysburg’s homecoming game.
The Bullets were first to strike off a 3-yard run by Michael Zrelak ’26 in the first quarter to put the Bullets up by six points. The extra point was not scored as the kick was missed. The rest of the first quarter was entirely scoreless. McDaniel then answered with a touchdown of their own in early the second quarter off of a pass to McDaniel’s wide receiver Kyler Silver. McDaniel made good on their extra point attempt to put them up 7-6 against the Bullets. The score remained unchanged going into halftime.
The fanfare regarding the lights themselves continued throughout the halftime break. President Bob Iuliano took to the field to bestow thanks to the boosters, who were instrumental in securing funding to get the lights installed, on behalf of the College.
During halftime, the marching band took to the field to play a number of memorable ‘70s tunes. Afterward, there was a mesmerizing light show put on thanks to the newly installed stadium lights. It is also worth mentioning that the lights now flash whenever Gettysburg scores, greatly adding to the game’s atmosphere.
Coming out of the tunnel, both offenses remained quiet for the rest of the game. Neither offense was able to score a touchdown during the rest of the game. However, that did not prevent the score from changing. Nate DeLorenzo ’26 caught an interception that he then ran 52 yards in the opposite direction for a touchdown.
Delorenze has been on a tear this year as he has already earned centennial conference player of the week twice this season. Clearly rattled, McDaniel’s quarterback threw yet another pick six. This time, it was Nathan LaRosa ’24 who grabbed the pass and ran it 30 yards into McDaniel’s end zone score yet again. The game was iced by a two point conversion that put the Bullets up 20-7 to close out the game.
This game was a defensive shootout. Thankfully, the Bullets were able to score two touchdowns off of their defense. However, defensive scores are not guaranteed. The Bullets need to ramp up offensive production as they head into conference play if they wish to stay competitive.
Alas, the football season is young, thanks to high spirits from a strong showing of football skills and fan support, the Bullets are looking to make Gettysburg a “football school” this year by staying competitive in a tough Centennial Conference.
See more photos from the tailgate and game below. (Photos by William Oehler/The Gettysburgian):
