Last-Minute Drive Comes Up Short in 19-13 Loss at Lebanon Valley
From the Gettysburg College Website:
Last-Minute Drive Comes Up Short in 19-13 Loss at Lebanon Valley
Box Score
ANNVILLE, Pa. – Safety Andrew Shambach broke up a potential game-winning touchdown pass in the end zone with seven seconds left, and Gettysburg was unable to recover from a 19-0 deficit in a 19-13 non-conference loss at Lebanon Valley College on a rain-soaked, wind-swept Arnold Field in the season opener for both teams.
Not only was the game played mostly through a driving rain due to the remnants of Tropical Storm Hanna, but it also featured a pair of 30-minute lightning delays, with the second one halting play with 3:38 left in the game and the Flying Dutchmen clinging to a six-point lead.
With the setback, Gettysburg has now lost three straight season-openers at Lebanon Valley since 2004.
Junior tailback Charlie Parker rushed for 128 yards and one touchdown on 34 carries to lead LVC. He also caught an 82-yard touchdown pass.
Gettysburg junior quarterback Matt Flynn (Northfield, N.J./Mainland Regional) nearly led the Bullets to a dramatic game-winning drive, taking his team from his own 5-yard line to the LVC-25 in the final minute. However, his final four passes fell incomplete in the end zone, and the Dutchmen were able to run take a knee to run off the final seven seconds.
The Bullets began their final drive with 1:29 left and no timeouts. Flynn hit sophomore receiver Brian Betley (Mt. Laurel, N.J./Lenape) with a 42-yard bomb to down the left sideline on third-and-10, giving the Bullets the ball near midfield. He then found junior wing Michael McInerney (Hasbrouck Heights, N.J./St. Joseph) over the middle for a 19-yard gain as Gettysburg suddenly was within striking distance. On the next play, Betley nearly came up with a diving catch on the right side of the end zone, but the pass was ruled to have hit the ground. After two more incomplete passes – one to Betley and one to sophomore Gavin Jabonski (Allenwood, N.J./Wall) – Flynn took one final shot at Betley in the left side of the end zone only to have it knocked away by Shambach.
Flynn went 13-for-29 for 170 yards and one touchdown and moved into second on the school’s all-time passing yardage list, surpassing Jim Ward ’67. With 3,251 yards, he now trails only Dennis Flaherty ’01 (5,136) on the all-time list.
Senior Nick McConnell (Lebanon, Pa./Cedar Crest) led the Bullets on the ground with a career-high 73 yards on 14 carries while Betley caught three passes for 77 yards.
The wet conditions put a damper on both team’s offense in the early going, with the two teams gaining a total of two first downs in the opening quarter. The first occurred when, on their first possession, the Bullets took a gamble and converted a fourth-and-1 from their own 27 on a two-yard run from Flynn. However, the drive stalled from there, and Gettysburg went three-and-out on its next possession. The opening quarter ended with the scoreboard reading 0-0.
The Bullet offense received a spark in the second quarter, when junior wing Ricky Manigat (Baldwin, N.Y./Baldwin) took a pass from Flynn, made a nice spin move on the left sideline, and raced downfield for a 34-yard gain to the LVC-21. But after a short run and a pair of incomplete passes, senior Josh Huson (McLean, Va./McLean) had his 37-yard field goal sail wide left with 11:07 left in the opening half.
The Dutchmen responded with several big passing plays to get on the scoreboard. On a third-and-12 from the LVC-18, Parker took a short pass from Fick on the far sideline, broke a tackle, and sprinted 82 yards into the end zone with 10:04 on the clock. Brittany Ryan’s extra point made it 7-0.
Following a Gettysburg punt, two passes from quarterback Caleb Fick to Matt Donley led to another Dutchman score. Donley pulled in a 37-yard pass to set up the Dutchmen at the Bullet-39, and four plays later, he made a leaping grab in the end zone with 3:53 left in the half. Ryan’s extra point was blocked by senior defensive end Josh Jerrold (Yardley, Pa./Pennsbury East).
The Bullets appeared to have something going just before the end of the half following an 18-yard pass from Betley to sophomore wing Charles Curcio (Hammonton, N.J./St. Joseph) on a fake punt put Gettysburg at the LVC-27. However, Lebanon Valley thwarted the drive with a minute left before the half, when, on a third-and -13, Dane Eichelberger picked off a Flynn pass headed for the end zone.
Fick finished the first half with 148 yards on just three completions. For the game he went 8-for-16 for 188 yards.
After an extended 30-minute halftime (due to the first lightning delay), the Bullets received the second-half kickoff, but Eichelberger made his second interception of the game on Gettysburg’s second play from scrimmage, setting up the Dutchmen at Gettysburg’s 24. Another big Fick-to-Donley play – a 13-yard, first-down completion on third-and-4 – gave LVC the ball at the Bullet-5. Two plays later, Parker ran it in from the right side, and after a failed two-point conversion it was 19-0 with 12:13 showing.
Gettysburg came right back with its best drive of the game up to that point, going 59 yards on 10 plays, highlighted by a 4-yard touchdown run from Manigat on a pitch-out right. Gettysburg converted two third-downs along the way on a 9-yard run from McConnell and an 8-yard Manigat carry.
The Bullets then picked up a break when a high snap on a punt gave Gettysburg the ball at the Dutchman-21. Then on a third-and-16, Flynn found a wide-open Betley in the end zone. The Bullets were unable to get down the hold on the extra point, and Huson’s line-drive attempt was wide-left, making it 19-13 with 3:36 left in the third quarter.
Gettysburg came up with a big stop on Lebanon Valley’s next drive, but then gave the ball away on a turnover. On a fourth-and-2 at the Bullet-30, a Fick rush was stuffed by junior Sean Beirne (Ventnor, N.J./Atlantic City). But the Dutchmen regained possession when Tim Ridewood recovered a botched pitch-out at the Gettysburg-46. The turnover spoiled a spectacular play by Flynn two plays earlier, when he spun away from a host of defenders and hit Betley with a lunging shovel pass for a first down.
The Dutchmen threatened to score again, marching to the Bullet-2, but junior linebacker Joe Anthes (Hopatcong, N.J./Hopatcong) halted the drive with his second career interception, picking off a pass in the end zone with 8:16 left.
After driving 28 yards to the Gettysburg-48, the Bullets were forced to punt, and a Betley boot bounced into the end zone for a touchback.
Lebanon Valley took over with 4:53 left, and the Dutchmen chewed up over three minutes of the clock over an eight-play, 47-yard drive in which Parker accounted for all but two yards and all three first downs. The drive was interrupted after his 15-yard carry gave LVC a first down at the Gettysburg-44, and play resumed a half hour later.
Facing a fourth-and-8 at the Gettysburg-33, the Dutchmen elected to punt, and Colt Zarilla’s pooch kick died at the Bullet-5, setting up Gettysburg’s stirring comeback attempt.
Defensively, sophomore tackle Sebastian Sullivan (Harrisburg, Pa./Bishop McDevitt) led the Bullets with a career-high nine tackles while senior linebacker Dean Staley (Hagerstown, Md./North Hagerstown) made a career-high eight stops.
Betley averaged 40.8 yards on five punts.
The Bullets play their home opener next Saturday, when they take on Hampden-Sydney College at 1 p.m. in another non-conference showdown.
From the Lebanon Valley Website:
Football Slips And Slides By Gettysburg, 19-13
Box Score
ANNVILLE, Pa. - Junior Charlie Parker racked up 210 all-purpose yards and had two touchdowns as Lebanon Valley College held off a Gettysburg College comeback to win their season opener, 19-13, at a rain-soaked Arnold Field.
The game was played in the driving rain and wind of Tropical Storm Hanna, and was delayed twice due to lightning.
The Dutchmen (1-0) ran out to a 19-0 lead before giving up two third-quarter touchdowns to the Bullets (0-1), who drove nearly the length of the field at the end of the fourth quarter but fell short in a comeback bid.
It was the third straight time LVC has beaten Gettysburg at home, following a 13-12 win in 2006 and 2004's 7-3 victory.
"You talk about, we won three of our last four games last year, win our first game this year, and winning is contagious," said Head Coach Jim Monos. "But we have a hard schedule ahead of us and a tough opponent in Ursinus next week."
Sophomore quarterback Caleb Fick completed 8-of-16 passes for 188 yards and two touchdowns, including an 82-yard strike to Parker in the first half. Gettysburg's Matt Flynn was 13-of-29 for 170 yards and a touchdown.
Sophomore safety Dane Eichelberger led a solid LVC defense with two interceptions. Seniors Brian Cottone and Andrew Shambach each racked up 10 tackles, and Shambach batted away the potential game-tying touchdown with seven seconds left in the game.
It was Parker who kept the LVC offense moving, carrying the ball 34 times for 128 yards, and adding the touchdown grab as his only reception for LVC's first score. Early in the second quarter, the junior snagged a pass from Fick in the flat and took off, racing up the sideline and diving into the end zone for an 82-yard touchdown.
"There aren't enough ways to get the ball to Charlie Parker, because he's a good football player," said Monos. "Nobody smells the goal line better than he does."
Fick made it 13-0 later in the half when he connected with Matt Donley on a 28-yard floater.
The Bullets threatened at the tail end of the half, but Eichelberger's interception at his own two ended the threat. Eichelberger then keyed LVC's next score, picking off Flynn's first pass of the second half to set up excellent field position at the Gettysburg 36. Five plays later, Parker turned the corner and dove in for a two-yard score and a 19-0 lead.
The Bullets responded with a long drive capped by Ricky Manigat's three-yard scoring run with 7:28 to go in the quarter, and five minutes later, Brian Betley hauled in a 26-yard pass from Flynn to cut the lead to 19-13
After a second lightning delay stopped the game for a half hour with 3:38 left, Lebanon Valley had an outstanding chance to shut the game out midway through the fourth quarter, grinding to the Gettysburg two. The Bullets ended the drive, however, with Tim Widdoes' interception of Fick.
With a 1:22 left and needing a touchdown to tie and the PAT to win, the Bullets drove from their own five to the LVC 25, and took four stabs at the end zone in the final 30 seconds before Shambach batted down a pass for Brian Betley to end the threat.
Game Notes: The game was delayed twice by lightning, first extending halftime and then again with 3:38 remaining in the game ... Parker posted his 11th career 100-yard rushing performance ... Eichelberger, making his first career start at free safety, had two interceptions and three tackles ... Despite the weather, both teams took care of the ball, each fumbling once, with Gettysburg losing theirs ... Freshman Colt Zarilla was outstanding at punter for LVC, putting four punts inside the 20, including two inside the five ... LVC and Gettysburg have alternated wins on their home fields every year since 2003 ... According to the National Weather Service at Ft. Indiantown Gap, the Lebanon Valley received just under two inches of rain during the course of the game.
Last-Minute Drive Comes Up Short in 19-13 Loss at Lebanon Valley
Box Score
ANNVILLE, Pa. – Safety Andrew Shambach broke up a potential game-winning touchdown pass in the end zone with seven seconds left, and Gettysburg was unable to recover from a 19-0 deficit in a 19-13 non-conference loss at Lebanon Valley College on a rain-soaked, wind-swept Arnold Field in the season opener for both teams.
Not only was the game played mostly through a driving rain due to the remnants of Tropical Storm Hanna, but it also featured a pair of 30-minute lightning delays, with the second one halting play with 3:38 left in the game and the Flying Dutchmen clinging to a six-point lead.
With the setback, Gettysburg has now lost three straight season-openers at Lebanon Valley since 2004.
Junior tailback Charlie Parker rushed for 128 yards and one touchdown on 34 carries to lead LVC. He also caught an 82-yard touchdown pass.
Gettysburg junior quarterback Matt Flynn (Northfield, N.J./Mainland Regional) nearly led the Bullets to a dramatic game-winning drive, taking his team from his own 5-yard line to the LVC-25 in the final minute. However, his final four passes fell incomplete in the end zone, and the Dutchmen were able to run take a knee to run off the final seven seconds.
The Bullets began their final drive with 1:29 left and no timeouts. Flynn hit sophomore receiver Brian Betley (Mt. Laurel, N.J./Lenape) with a 42-yard bomb to down the left sideline on third-and-10, giving the Bullets the ball near midfield. He then found junior wing Michael McInerney (Hasbrouck Heights, N.J./St. Joseph) over the middle for a 19-yard gain as Gettysburg suddenly was within striking distance. On the next play, Betley nearly came up with a diving catch on the right side of the end zone, but the pass was ruled to have hit the ground. After two more incomplete passes – one to Betley and one to sophomore Gavin Jabonski (Allenwood, N.J./Wall) – Flynn took one final shot at Betley in the left side of the end zone only to have it knocked away by Shambach.
Flynn went 13-for-29 for 170 yards and one touchdown and moved into second on the school’s all-time passing yardage list, surpassing Jim Ward ’67. With 3,251 yards, he now trails only Dennis Flaherty ’01 (5,136) on the all-time list.
Senior Nick McConnell (Lebanon, Pa./Cedar Crest) led the Bullets on the ground with a career-high 73 yards on 14 carries while Betley caught three passes for 77 yards.
The wet conditions put a damper on both team’s offense in the early going, with the two teams gaining a total of two first downs in the opening quarter. The first occurred when, on their first possession, the Bullets took a gamble and converted a fourth-and-1 from their own 27 on a two-yard run from Flynn. However, the drive stalled from there, and Gettysburg went three-and-out on its next possession. The opening quarter ended with the scoreboard reading 0-0.
The Bullet offense received a spark in the second quarter, when junior wing Ricky Manigat (Baldwin, N.Y./Baldwin) took a pass from Flynn, made a nice spin move on the left sideline, and raced downfield for a 34-yard gain to the LVC-21. But after a short run and a pair of incomplete passes, senior Josh Huson (McLean, Va./McLean) had his 37-yard field goal sail wide left with 11:07 left in the opening half.
The Dutchmen responded with several big passing plays to get on the scoreboard. On a third-and-12 from the LVC-18, Parker took a short pass from Fick on the far sideline, broke a tackle, and sprinted 82 yards into the end zone with 10:04 on the clock. Brittany Ryan’s extra point made it 7-0.
Following a Gettysburg punt, two passes from quarterback Caleb Fick to Matt Donley led to another Dutchman score. Donley pulled in a 37-yard pass to set up the Dutchmen at the Bullet-39, and four plays later, he made a leaping grab in the end zone with 3:53 left in the half. Ryan’s extra point was blocked by senior defensive end Josh Jerrold (Yardley, Pa./Pennsbury East).
The Bullets appeared to have something going just before the end of the half following an 18-yard pass from Betley to sophomore wing Charles Curcio (Hammonton, N.J./St. Joseph) on a fake punt put Gettysburg at the LVC-27. However, Lebanon Valley thwarted the drive with a minute left before the half, when, on a third-and -13, Dane Eichelberger picked off a Flynn pass headed for the end zone.
Fick finished the first half with 148 yards on just three completions. For the game he went 8-for-16 for 188 yards.
After an extended 30-minute halftime (due to the first lightning delay), the Bullets received the second-half kickoff, but Eichelberger made his second interception of the game on Gettysburg’s second play from scrimmage, setting up the Dutchmen at Gettysburg’s 24. Another big Fick-to-Donley play – a 13-yard, first-down completion on third-and-4 – gave LVC the ball at the Bullet-5. Two plays later, Parker ran it in from the right side, and after a failed two-point conversion it was 19-0 with 12:13 showing.
Gettysburg came right back with its best drive of the game up to that point, going 59 yards on 10 plays, highlighted by a 4-yard touchdown run from Manigat on a pitch-out right. Gettysburg converted two third-downs along the way on a 9-yard run from McConnell and an 8-yard Manigat carry.
The Bullets then picked up a break when a high snap on a punt gave Gettysburg the ball at the Dutchman-21. Then on a third-and-16, Flynn found a wide-open Betley in the end zone. The Bullets were unable to get down the hold on the extra point, and Huson’s line-drive attempt was wide-left, making it 19-13 with 3:36 left in the third quarter.
Gettysburg came up with a big stop on Lebanon Valley’s next drive, but then gave the ball away on a turnover. On a fourth-and-2 at the Bullet-30, a Fick rush was stuffed by junior Sean Beirne (Ventnor, N.J./Atlantic City). But the Dutchmen regained possession when Tim Ridewood recovered a botched pitch-out at the Gettysburg-46. The turnover spoiled a spectacular play by Flynn two plays earlier, when he spun away from a host of defenders and hit Betley with a lunging shovel pass for a first down.
The Dutchmen threatened to score again, marching to the Bullet-2, but junior linebacker Joe Anthes (Hopatcong, N.J./Hopatcong) halted the drive with his second career interception, picking off a pass in the end zone with 8:16 left.
After driving 28 yards to the Gettysburg-48, the Bullets were forced to punt, and a Betley boot bounced into the end zone for a touchback.
Lebanon Valley took over with 4:53 left, and the Dutchmen chewed up over three minutes of the clock over an eight-play, 47-yard drive in which Parker accounted for all but two yards and all three first downs. The drive was interrupted after his 15-yard carry gave LVC a first down at the Gettysburg-44, and play resumed a half hour later.
Facing a fourth-and-8 at the Gettysburg-33, the Dutchmen elected to punt, and Colt Zarilla’s pooch kick died at the Bullet-5, setting up Gettysburg’s stirring comeback attempt.
Defensively, sophomore tackle Sebastian Sullivan (Harrisburg, Pa./Bishop McDevitt) led the Bullets with a career-high nine tackles while senior linebacker Dean Staley (Hagerstown, Md./North Hagerstown) made a career-high eight stops.
Betley averaged 40.8 yards on five punts.
The Bullets play their home opener next Saturday, when they take on Hampden-Sydney College at 1 p.m. in another non-conference showdown.
From the Lebanon Valley Website:
Football Slips And Slides By Gettysburg, 19-13
Box Score
ANNVILLE, Pa. - Junior Charlie Parker racked up 210 all-purpose yards and had two touchdowns as Lebanon Valley College held off a Gettysburg College comeback to win their season opener, 19-13, at a rain-soaked Arnold Field.
The game was played in the driving rain and wind of Tropical Storm Hanna, and was delayed twice due to lightning.
The Dutchmen (1-0) ran out to a 19-0 lead before giving up two third-quarter touchdowns to the Bullets (0-1), who drove nearly the length of the field at the end of the fourth quarter but fell short in a comeback bid.
It was the third straight time LVC has beaten Gettysburg at home, following a 13-12 win in 2006 and 2004's 7-3 victory.
"You talk about, we won three of our last four games last year, win our first game this year, and winning is contagious," said Head Coach Jim Monos. "But we have a hard schedule ahead of us and a tough opponent in Ursinus next week."
Sophomore quarterback Caleb Fick completed 8-of-16 passes for 188 yards and two touchdowns, including an 82-yard strike to Parker in the first half. Gettysburg's Matt Flynn was 13-of-29 for 170 yards and a touchdown.
Sophomore safety Dane Eichelberger led a solid LVC defense with two interceptions. Seniors Brian Cottone and Andrew Shambach each racked up 10 tackles, and Shambach batted away the potential game-tying touchdown with seven seconds left in the game.
It was Parker who kept the LVC offense moving, carrying the ball 34 times for 128 yards, and adding the touchdown grab as his only reception for LVC's first score. Early in the second quarter, the junior snagged a pass from Fick in the flat and took off, racing up the sideline and diving into the end zone for an 82-yard touchdown.
"There aren't enough ways to get the ball to Charlie Parker, because he's a good football player," said Monos. "Nobody smells the goal line better than he does."
Fick made it 13-0 later in the half when he connected with Matt Donley on a 28-yard floater.
The Bullets threatened at the tail end of the half, but Eichelberger's interception at his own two ended the threat. Eichelberger then keyed LVC's next score, picking off Flynn's first pass of the second half to set up excellent field position at the Gettysburg 36. Five plays later, Parker turned the corner and dove in for a two-yard score and a 19-0 lead.
The Bullets responded with a long drive capped by Ricky Manigat's three-yard scoring run with 7:28 to go in the quarter, and five minutes later, Brian Betley hauled in a 26-yard pass from Flynn to cut the lead to 19-13
After a second lightning delay stopped the game for a half hour with 3:38 left, Lebanon Valley had an outstanding chance to shut the game out midway through the fourth quarter, grinding to the Gettysburg two. The Bullets ended the drive, however, with Tim Widdoes' interception of Fick.
With a 1:22 left and needing a touchdown to tie and the PAT to win, the Bullets drove from their own five to the LVC 25, and took four stabs at the end zone in the final 30 seconds before Shambach batted down a pass for Brian Betley to end the threat.
Game Notes: The game was delayed twice by lightning, first extending halftime and then again with 3:38 remaining in the game ... Parker posted his 11th career 100-yard rushing performance ... Eichelberger, making his first career start at free safety, had two interceptions and three tackles ... Despite the weather, both teams took care of the ball, each fumbling once, with Gettysburg losing theirs ... Freshman Colt Zarilla was outstanding at punter for LVC, putting four punts inside the 20, including two inside the five ... LVC and Gettysburg have alternated wins on their home fields every year since 2003 ... According to the National Weather Service at Ft. Indiantown Gap, the Lebanon Valley received just under two inches of rain during the course of the game.
posted by Pat McConnell | 7:28 PM
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