GETTYSBURG, Pa. – Gettysburg College posted a pair of takeaways and received a long touchdown run by junior Andrew Howard (Swansea, Mass./Moses Brown School) to keep the score close early on with Johns Hopkins University, but the 25th-ranked Blue Jays ran off four consecutive scores over the second and third quarters to pull away for a 51-14 victory in Centennial Conference football action at Shirk Field at Musselman Stadium on Saturday.
Gettysburg (1-6, 1-5 CC) thwarted two of Johns Hopkins' (6-1, 5-1 CC) first three drives with an interception by freshman Linwood Nicolas, Jr. (Baltimore, Md./Franklin) and a fumble recovery by senior Mike McKnight (West Chester, Pa./Bayard Rustin) in the first quarter. The Bullets were unable to take advantage of the turnovers as junior Justin Geisel (Charlotte, N.C./Charlotte Country Day) missed what would have been a program-record setting 49-yard field goal to the left on the first possession and the team went three-and-out following the second takeaway.
In between the turnovers, the Blue Jays wasted little time getting into the end zone as quarterback David Tammaro found Stuart Walters on a short screen pass and the senior tailback dashed 73 yards to the end zone for the game's first score with 8:26 left in the first quarter. Senior Chase Fee (Spotswood, N.J./Spotswood) blocked the ensuing extra point attempt, marking his second blocked kick of the year.
Tammaro hooked up with wide receiver Luke McFadden for an 11-yard score late in the first quarter to make it 13-0. Howard provided the highlight of the day for the Bullets on the ensuing possession, rushing through the middle of the line on third down and dashing 59 yards to the end zone. Geisel's extra point made it 13-7 at 13:40 in the second quarter.
Johns Hopkins turned in its longest drive of the game midway through the period, totaling 85 yards on 11 plays. After a 20-yard toss from Tammaro to Ryan Hubley on third down set the team up on the one-yard line, Walters danced into the end zone for his second score of the day to put the Blue Jays ahead 20-7 at halftime.
Walters added another highlight-reel play to start the third quarter, dashing 34 yards for the opening touchdown of the half. Later in the period, a 40-yard punt return by Zac Fernandez set up Tammaro for a 29-yard touchdown pass to Harrison Wellman to push the advantage to 41-7.
The Bullets picked up their second score following a 14-play, 90-yard drive that ended early in the fourth quarter. A 31-yard pass from sophomore Mike Welsh (Medford, N.J./Shawnee) to senior Johnny Davis (Mahwah, N.J./Mahwah) on third down highlighted the drive, which ended with a one-yard scoring run by Welsh.
A touchdown run by Nick Leongas and a 32-yard field goal by Mike Eberle capped the scoring in the fourth quarter. Gettysburg drove down the field looking for a final score to end the game, but Welsh's last heave was intercepted in the end zone by Patrick Kelly. Kelly ran the ball back 90 yards before being tackled by the Gettysburg quarterback as time expired.
Gettysburg turned in a season-high 382 yards of offense, including 214 on the ground. Howard produced another career outing, topping his personal high for rushing yards for the third consecutive game. The junior tailback posted 119 yards on 20 carries and added 33 receiving yards on four receptions. Senior Nick Rella (Denville, N.J./Morristown-Beard) posted 55 yards on 16 carries. Welsh completed passes to nine different receivers for 168 yards.
Senior Jake Skinner (Annapolis, Md./Broadneck) paced the Bullets with eight tackles. Junior Ryan Greene (Easton, Pa./Easton) recorded seven tackles and one sack, while sophomore Jack Humphries (Lutherville, Md./Calvert Hall) and senior Matt Graziano (Pennington, N.J./Hopewell Valley) each accounted for two tackles for a loss.
Walters finished with 179 all-purpose yards and three touchdowns. He carried the ball six times for 106 yards, averaging 17.7 yards per carry. Tammaro finished 14-of-19 for 247 yards and three scores. Hubley hauled in five catches for 69 yards. Robert Fletcher led the defense with seven tackles and two tackles for a loss.
Gettysburg travels to Susquehanna University next Saturday at 1 p.m.
25th-ranked Blue Jays Pull Away from Bullets
/seasons/2018/boxscores/20181020_mtyk.xml
2018
Johns Hopkins
51
Gettysburg
14
| Final | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | T |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| No. 14 Johns Hopkins (6-1) | 13 | 7 | 21 | 10 | 51 |
| Gettysburg (1-6) | 0 | 7 | 0 | 7 | 14 |
Oct 20, 2018