Dickinson, Gettysburg have much at stake
From today's Harrisburg Patriot-News:
Friday, October 19, 2007
BY BOB BLACKOf The Patriot-News
They have buckets, pails, wagons and other paraphernalia symbolic of football rivalries.
The one for Saturday's 1 p.m. game at Gettysburg with Dickinson is a Little Brown Bucket.
But there's a lot more than symbolism involved when the two teams get together for this Centennial Conference matchup.
For one thing, the winner still will be very much alive in the battle for the conference title and postseason play.
For another, even with a win Dickinson will face a second straight tough road game when it travels to unbeaten Muhlenberg next week. Gettysburg already has faced Muhlenberg, losing 14-13 in the fourth game of the season.
"Believe me, no one is even thinking about Muhlenberg right now," said Dickinson sophomore quarterback Ian Mitchell, who took over that position this season following the graduation of three-year starter Matt Torchia.
"Gettysburg has been a solid team all season, and we know what it will take to beat them. You never need to worry about getting up to play any of the teams in our conference, but that's especially true this week."
In last year's meeting at Dickinson, the Bullets weren't exactly fully loaded when they were forced to play without several key people -- such as rushing leader Tom Sturges and kicker Josh Huson -- who missed the game for disciplinary reasons.
Dickinson won 30-14 and went on to capture the undisputed conference title with a 6-1 league record.
"You can't use excuses when you lose a game, no matter who you have available," Gettysburg coach Barry Streeter said. "Sure, we'll have a different team available for this game. But so will Dickinson and we always know it's going to be an extremely tough game when we face them."
"Not playing in last year's game doesn't make this year's that much more important for me," Sturges said. "The actual circumstances of the game and the fact that it is Dickinson is what makes this game important to me."
"We brought the bucket back over to our place with that win last year," Dickinson coach Darwin Breaux said. "But we're well aware how much better of a team we'll be seeing out there this year.
"We're fortunate that Ian has stepped in and played so well for us at quarterback this season.
We knew coming in he could do the job for us after the job he did as an all-purpose back and
receiver as a freshman."
While Dickinson (5-1, 3-1) owns conference wins over Franklin & Marshall, McDaniel and Moravian, in their latest Centennial test, two weeks ago against Johns Hopkins, the Red Devils lost 20-17 on a last-second field goal.
Since the Red Devils had a bye last week, they've had two weeks either to think about Gettysburg or dwell on what might have been.
"Believe me, we don't think about a game more than 24 hours after it's over, win or lose," Mitchell said. "That's just the policy Coach Breaux has, and we all think it's a good one."
In Gettysburg (5-2, 4-1), the Red Devils will face a team that owns conference wins at Johns Hopkins and Ursinus, the two teams picked at the top of the preseason Centennial poll.
Dickinson will be facing probably the league's toughest offense led by sophomore quarterback Matt Flynn and league rushing leader Sturges, who had 181 yards and two TDs against Juniata.
"It takes the total package in a game like this," Flynn said. "Dickinson had that kind of a team last year against us, and I think we've proven we have that this year."
BOB BLACK: 255-8183 or bblack@patriot-news.com
Friday, October 19, 2007
BY BOB BLACKOf The Patriot-News
They have buckets, pails, wagons and other paraphernalia symbolic of football rivalries.
The one for Saturday's 1 p.m. game at Gettysburg with Dickinson is a Little Brown Bucket.
But there's a lot more than symbolism involved when the two teams get together for this Centennial Conference matchup.
For one thing, the winner still will be very much alive in the battle for the conference title and postseason play.
For another, even with a win Dickinson will face a second straight tough road game when it travels to unbeaten Muhlenberg next week. Gettysburg already has faced Muhlenberg, losing 14-13 in the fourth game of the season.
"Believe me, no one is even thinking about Muhlenberg right now," said Dickinson sophomore quarterback Ian Mitchell, who took over that position this season following the graduation of three-year starter Matt Torchia.
"Gettysburg has been a solid team all season, and we know what it will take to beat them. You never need to worry about getting up to play any of the teams in our conference, but that's especially true this week."
In last year's meeting at Dickinson, the Bullets weren't exactly fully loaded when they were forced to play without several key people -- such as rushing leader Tom Sturges and kicker Josh Huson -- who missed the game for disciplinary reasons.
Dickinson won 30-14 and went on to capture the undisputed conference title with a 6-1 league record.
"You can't use excuses when you lose a game, no matter who you have available," Gettysburg coach Barry Streeter said. "Sure, we'll have a different team available for this game. But so will Dickinson and we always know it's going to be an extremely tough game when we face them."
"Not playing in last year's game doesn't make this year's that much more important for me," Sturges said. "The actual circumstances of the game and the fact that it is Dickinson is what makes this game important to me."
"We brought the bucket back over to our place with that win last year," Dickinson coach Darwin Breaux said. "But we're well aware how much better of a team we'll be seeing out there this year.
"We're fortunate that Ian has stepped in and played so well for us at quarterback this season.
We knew coming in he could do the job for us after the job he did as an all-purpose back and
receiver as a freshman."
While Dickinson (5-1, 3-1) owns conference wins over Franklin & Marshall, McDaniel and Moravian, in their latest Centennial test, two weeks ago against Johns Hopkins, the Red Devils lost 20-17 on a last-second field goal.
Since the Red Devils had a bye last week, they've had two weeks either to think about Gettysburg or dwell on what might have been.
"Believe me, we don't think about a game more than 24 hours after it's over, win or lose," Mitchell said. "That's just the policy Coach Breaux has, and we all think it's a good one."
In Gettysburg (5-2, 4-1), the Red Devils will face a team that owns conference wins at Johns Hopkins and Ursinus, the two teams picked at the top of the preseason Centennial poll.
Dickinson will be facing probably the league's toughest offense led by sophomore quarterback Matt Flynn and league rushing leader Sturges, who had 181 yards and two TDs against Juniata.
"It takes the total package in a game like this," Flynn said. "Dickinson had that kind of a team last year against us, and I think we've proven we have that this year."
BOB BLACK: 255-8183 or bblack@patriot-news.com
posted by Pat McConnell | 6:04 AM
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