More McDaniel at Gettysburg Game Notes

From the Gettysburg College Website:

McDaniel at Gettysburg – Saturday, Oct. 8, 2005 – 1 p.m.

THIS WEEK’S GAME: Saturday’s Centennial Conference (CC) game marks the 59th meeting between Gettysburg (1-3, 0-0 CC) and 19th-ranked McDaniel (4-0, 1-0 CC) in a series that dates back to 1891, the Bullets’ second year of intercollegiate competition. Gettysburg holds a 42-15-1 lead in the all-time series, but the Green Terror has won seven of the last eight meetings between the two programs. In last year’s match-up, Brad Baer and Broderick Maybank ripped off touchdown runs of 69 and 59 yards, respectively, as McDaniel outgained the Bullets 556-150 en route to a 31-0 win on Oct. 9, 2004 in Westminster.

LAST TIME OUT: Denison’s Larry Cappetto threw for 287 yards and accounted for three touchdowns to lead the Big Red past the Bullets 49-21 on Sept. 24 in Granville, Ohio. Sophomore TB Tom Sturges (Ridgefield, CT/Ridgefield) led Gettysburg with 151 rushing yards and one touchdown. Sophomore QB Hunter McMillan (Middletown, DE/Wilmington Friends) threw for 202 yards, his second 200-yard passing game of the season. The Bullets were off last week. In Westminster, Tom Wenrich threw for one touchdown and ran for another as McDaniel opened its CC schedule with a 28-20 win over Ursinus last Saturday. Ron Ringgold also keyed the victory, returning an interception 36 yards for a touchdown.

PLAYER OF THE WEEK: Tom Sturges was named the CC Offensive Player of the Week for the second time this season following his 151-yard rushing performance against Denison on Sept. 24. He also earned the weekly honor after running for 206 yards and two touchdowns against Lebanon Valley on Sept. 3.

ALSO OUTSTANDING: Junior LB Harold Barton (Somerdale, NJ/Sterling) was chosen as a CC Outstanding Performer for his play against both Rochester and Denison. Barton recorded a career-high 17 tackles against the Yellowjackets on Sept. 17 and made a team-high 11 stops against the Big Red the following Saturday.

RUNNING AHEAD: Thanks to three 100-yard rushing games in his first four starts this season, Tom Sturges leads the CC with 512 rushing yards, an average of 128.0 yards per game. The sophomore is also tops in the conference in all-purpose yards (137.8 per game) and is tied for third in scoring (6.0 points per game).

WINGING IT: Hunter McMillan threw for 202 yards in the loss to Denison, giving him 842 passing yards on the season. McMillan ranks second in the conference in passing yards per game (210.5), total offense (205.0) and pass efficiency (109.3). He has completed 73 of 132 passes (55.3 percent) and thrown for five touchdowns.

WELL RECEIVED: Sophomore HB Shawn Hollingsworth (Chester, PA/Wilmington Friends [DE]) leads Gettysburg with 20 receptions for 243 yards this season. Hollingsworth is tied for second in the CC with 5.00 receptions per game and ranks fourth with 60.8 receiving yards per game. Junior HB Dusty Green (Idaville, PA/Bermudian Springs) (18 catches, 203 yards) and junior WR Spencer Davidson (Dumont, NJ/Dumont) (15 catches, 240 yards) are also among the conference’s top 10 in both categories.

MANY HAPPY RETURNS: Senior DB Nathan Smith (Hanover, PA/Cooperstown Central [NY]) is the CC’s top kick returner, averaging 32.0 yards per kickoff return in 2005. Smith scored his second touchdown on a kick return this season in the loss to Rochester, tying a CC record with four career kickoff returns for touchdowns in the process.

POSITIVELY OFFENSIVE: Through the season’s first five weeks, Gettysburg leads the conference in total offense (382.5 yards per game) and passing offense (225.5), and ranks second in rushing offense (157.0) and scoring offense (28.8 points per game).

THE HITS KEEP ON COMING: Harold Barton leads the team with 52 tackles this season and ranks second in the conference with 13.0 tackles per game. His 36 solo tackles are a dozen more than the next closest player. Nathan Smith (6th, 9.0 tackles per game) and senior LB Ryan McGarry (Cliffside Park, NJ/Cliffside Park) (9th, 7.8) are also among the conference’s top tacklers this season. Senior DB Daniel Silva (Lanham, MD/Eleanor Roosevelt) – a former starter at McDaniel – ranks 14th with 6.5 tackles per game.

BULLET POINTS: In four games, the Bullets have already scored more points (115) than they did all of last season (105)… Gettysburg leads the CC in successful third-down (40.4 percent) and fourth-down conversions (52.9)… Freshman Josh Huson (McLean, VA/McLean) leads the CC in extra points made (11) and attempted (12)… The Bullets are the second-least penalized team in the conference, surrendering only 37.0 yards per game.

THE WORD ON MCDANIEL: McDaniel enters this afternoon’s game looking to stay undefeated in both conference play and overall. The Green Terror, ranked 19th by D3Football.com and 24th by the American Football Coaches Association, opened its CC slate with a 28-20 home win against Ursinus last Saturday. Despite a number of key injuries, McDaniel boasts the conference’s most potent scoring offensive this season, averaging more than 32 points per game. Senior RB Broderick Maybank has carried 76 times for 329 yards and a conference-leading five touchdowns this season, pacing a Green Terror ground game that is averaging a CC-best 168.8 yards per game. Junior RB Meikos Parker has also shown a knack for finding the end zone, carrying 30 times for 132 yards and four TDs this season. Junior QB Tom Wenrich has thrown for 314 yards and run for three touchdowns while sophomore QB Brett Gibson has also seen significant playing time, completing 18 of 35 passes for 193 yards and one touchdown in his first two appearances of 2005. Senior WR Eric Featherston leads the team in receptions (15) and receiving yards (124) this season. Junior WR Chris Martin (14) and senior WR Jamie Unger (12) have also made double-digit catches this year. Senior WR Jon Green’s eight receptions have gone for a team-leading 149 yards, an average of 18.6 yards per catch. Senior P Corey Allen ranks second in the CC with an average of 39.9 yards per punt. Senior LB Ron Ringgold ranks third in the conference with 11.8 tackles per game. Ringgold was named a CC Outstanding Performer after racking up 11 tackles and returning an interception for a touchdown against Ursinus. Junior DB Drew Abbamonte is tied for the conference lead with four interceptions. He leads the CC with seven passes defended.

COACH’S CORNER: Barry Streeter is in his 27th season as the head coach at Gettysburg, the longest coaching tenure in program history. He has posted a 133-129-5 record while guiding the Bullets to three CC championships and a pair of NCAA playoff victories. He ranks first among active CC coaches in both conference victories (71) and overall wins (133).

Now in his 13th season at McDaniel, Tim Keating is the most successful head coach in program history. Keating’s teams have gone 90-37-3 during his tenure on the Hill, including conference championships each year from 1997 through 2002 and 2004.

STREETER ON HIS TEAM’S USE OF THE BYE WEEK: “We listed three or four things each position needed to improve on, then we focused the week based on those things. We also thought we needed to raise our intensity level a little bit, so we created some situations in practice to give us that opportunity.”

STREETER ON THE KEYS TO WINNING ON SATURDAY: “No. 1, we have to secure the ball. We’ve given the ball up a little too often this year, so from our offensive standpoint, we have to eliminate our mistakes. No. 2, we have to stay on the field and sustain drives, because their offense is explosive.”

STREETER ON MCDANIEL’S OFFENSE: “They’re very talented. Their running backs are outstanding, they have a big offensive line that does a great job for them and they’re very multiple in what they’re doing. They’ve lost some key personnel, but the back-up kids are pretty good, so they’re doing well.”

STREETER ON THE RIVALRY WITH MCDANIEL: “In recent years, they’ve been so productive and they’ve been so good, that has to get your blood heated up a little bit just because of their success. They’re a very, very good football team and they’ve established an excellent tradition. You have to be excited about playing teams like that if you expect to compete with them.”