Sturges Hits 4,000 as Football Tops McDaniel, 38-14

From the Gettysburg College Website:

Sturges Hits 4,000 as Football Tops McDaniel, 38-14

Box Score

GETTYSBURG, Pa. – Senior tailback Tom Sturges (Ridgefield, Conn./Ridgefield) ran for 210 yards on a career-high 38 carries and became the second player in school history to reach 4,000 career rushing yards while freshman halfback Charles Curcio (Hammonton, N.J./St. Joseph) scored three touchdowns as the Gettysburg College football team pulled away late to defeat McDaniel College 38-14 on Senior Day at Shirk Field at Musselman Stadium Saturday afternoon.

Gettysburg (6-3, 5-2 CC), which clinched its first winning season since 1995, forced five turnovers and scored 24 points off McDaniel giveaways.

Despite the victory, the Bullets fell out of contention for a Centennial Conference title with Muhlenberg’s 31-7 victory over Ursinus on Saturday. The win clinched the conference championship for the Mules.

Gettysburg, which entered the game ranked 20th in Division III in rushing (246.5 yards per game), ran for a season-high 379 yards, the most by the Bullets since Sept. 6, 2003, when they posted 398 yards in a 52-7 win over Lebanon Valley.

Curcio scored on runs of 4 and 8 yards and on a 38-yard pass.

The Bullets led by just a field goal (17-14) heading into the fourth quarter before Curcio scored his second touchdown of the day, hauling in a 38-yard pass from Matt Flynn (Northfield, N.J./Mainland Regional) with 11:37 left to make it 24-14. The Green Terror (1-8, 1-6 CC) was still in it midway through the quarter before sophomore safety Brett Robinson (Chadds Ford, Pa./Archmere Academy (Del.)) picked off a pass at the Gettysburg-7 and returned it 16 yards with 8:06 to go. The Bullets then ate up 5:44 on a 12-play, 77-yard scoring drive capped by a Curcio 8-yard touchdown run.

Sophomore defensive tackle Sean Beirne (Ventnor, N.J./Atlantic City) put the icing on the cake when he scooped up a fumble forced by senior linebacker Harold Barton (Somerdale, N.J./Sterling) and returned it 51 yards down the right sideline with four seconds left.

It was the third career 200-yard rushing game for Sturges, who also broke the Gettysburg record for career rushing attempts and moved into fourth on the Centennial Conference career rushing list. He currently has 4,161 career rushing yards on 905 attempts.

Curcio topped 100 all-purpose yards for the fourth straight game, finishing with 133. He rushed seven times for 58 yards, caught one pass for 38 yards, returned two punts for two yards, and had 35 yards on a pair of kickoff returns.

Flynn finished with 107 yards passing while rushing for an additional 66 yards on five carries.

Tom Wenrich led McDaniel with 176 yards passing, completing 18 of 41 passes. Brian Amenta caught seven passes for 70 yards while Eric Zwilsky rushed 18 times for 45 yards, as Gettysburg did not allow an individual player to rush for 100 yards for the 11th straight game, dating back to last season.

Gettysburg, which has now won 12 of its last 14 home games dating back to 2005, never trailed after Curcio’s first score of the day. After receiving the opening kickoff, the Bullets drove 80 yards on nine plays, capped by Curcio’s 4-yard touchdown run on a pitch-out left. The drive included a 35-yard run by Sturges on third-and-2 that gave him exactly 4,000 career yards.

The Green Terror tied it up late in the opening quarter when Wenrich scored from 2 yards out on a quarterback keeper, making it 7-7 with 2:47 on the clock.

Senior cornerback Jason Taylor (North East, Md./Rising Sun) put the Bullets in front to stay early in the second quarter when he stepped in front of a Wenrich pass and returned it 22 yards for a touchdown. It was his second interception of the season and the first pick returned for a touchdown by a Gettysburg player since Ryan McGarry, Grant Acker, and Matt Pinkney all did it in the aforementioned win over Lebanon Valley in 2003.

McDaniel’s next turnover also led to a Gettysburg score. On the first play following a Bullet punt, Zwilsky was juggling the ball on a pitch-out when Taylor made a hit, popping the pigskin loose. Senior linebacker James Holubowich (Mineola, N.Y./Mineola) pounced on it at the McDaniel-24, and junior kicker Josh Huson (McLean, Va./McLean) booted through a 24-yard field goal with 20 seconds left in the half, giving the Bullets a 17-7 lead at the intermission.

The Green Terror received the second-half kickoff and proceeded to take the ball 74 yards on 13 plays, capped by a Zwilsky 6-yard touchdown run that made it 17-14 with 11:03 left in the third quarter. Neither team managed to score over the rest of the quarter, with Huson missing a 39- and 46-yard field goal and McDaniel turning it over on a fumble before being forced to punt.

After Curcio’s touchdown reception, the Bullet defense made the lead stand up by forcing McDaniel to punt on its next possession before Robinson’s interception and Beirne’s fumble return.

Sophomore linebacker Tim Widdoes (Newark, Del./St. Mark’s) led Gettysburg with 11 tackles while Barton finished with 10 hits, including a sack, one forced fumble, and two pass breakups. Barton also moved into sixth on Gettysburg’s career tackles list and now has 302 for his career. Senior safety Kyle Luciano (Staten Island, N.Y./St. Joseph by-the-Sea) added nine tackles and a forced fumble while senior cornerback Adam Fulmer (Halifax, Pa./Halifax) broke up three passes.

Ryan Mellinger had 14 tackles for McDaniel.

Gettysburg closes out its regular season on Saturday, when it visits Franklin & Marshall College at 1 p.m. in another Centennial Conference match-up.

From the McDaniel College Website:

11/03/2007

McDaniel 14, Gettysburg 38

Gettysburg, Pa. ---

Strong fourth quarter, Sturges carry Gettysburg to 38-14 win over McDaniel

Box Score

GETTYSBURG, Pa. – Tom Sturges notched his second 200-yard rushing day of the season, carrying the ball 38 times for 210 yards to eclipse 4,000 for his career and lead Gettysburg to a 38-14 win over McDaniel in Centennial Conference (CC) football action on Saturday.

For the second time in as many weeks, the Green Terror (1-8, 1-6 CC) allowed a running back to gain 200 yards on the ground in a season in which the defense has allowed 1,888 yards rushing, including a season high 379 to the Bullets (6-3, 5-2 CC) in a loss which will secure McDaniel’s worst finish since 1989.

Tom Wenrich (Wernersville, Pa./Conrad Weiser) threw for 176 yards, completing 18 of 41 passes for the Green Terror while Matt Flynn completed just 8 of 23 passes for 107 yards in a day when Gettysburg outgained its visitors, 486-269.

After the two teams exchanged 80-plus yard scoring drives in the first quarter, capped by short runs, Jason Taylor returned the first of two Wenrich interceptions 22 yards for a 14-7 lead with 13:09 remaining in the opening half.

Neither mustered much of a offensive threat throughout the remainder of the half but Josh Huson converted a 24-yard field with 20 seconds remaining to make it a 10-point game at halftime.

A 13-play, 74-yard drive to open the second half, capped by Eric Zwilsky’s (Knoxville, Md./Brunswick) 11th touchdown of the year – this one from six yards out – pulled the Green Terror within, 17-14.

Two missed Huson field goals sandwiching a McDaniel fumble derailed three straight drives before punts on three consecutive possessions gave Gettysburg the ball at its own 19.

A 22-yard Charles Curcio run and a 38-yard Flynn-to-Curcio strike keyed a drive that reestablished the Bullets’ 10-point advantage.

Gettysburg added a 12-play, 77-yard drive, once again capped by Curcio on an eight-yard run, to push the lead to 31-14 with 2:22 to play.

On the Green Terror’s final possession, Harold Barton knocked the ball loose and Sean Buirne picked it up, returning it 51 yards to set the final margin with 4.9 seconds showing.

Ryan Mellinger (Ocala, Fla./Forest) led the McDaniel defense with 14 tackles, including 10 solo stops, while Bryan Letourneau (Damascus, Md./Damascus) added 12.

Tim Widdoes and Barton notched 11 and 10 tackles, respectively, for the Bullets.

The Green Terror concludes the season at home against Johns Hopkins on Saturday. Game time is 1 p.m.