GETTYSBURG, Pa. – Senior Brian Calatozzo (Sewell, N.J./St. Augustine Prep) picked off a pass with 90 seconds remaining to seal Gettysburg's 22-15 victory over visiting Ursinus College in Centennial Conference football action Saturday afternoon at Shirk Field at Musselman Stadium.
Gettysburg (2-0, 1-0 CC) overcame a long lightning delay to knock off Ursinus (1-1, 0-1 CC), which was ranked third in the conference preseason poll.
"Both sides of the ball played solid when we had to," said Gettysburg Head Coach Barry Streeter. "Those were two really good teams playing each other. Fortunately, our players just took it one play at a time and that was important. I was really proud of them."
Senior Sam McDermott (Newtown, Pa./Notre Dame (N.J.)) threw for 269 yards and three touchdowns, including two end zone tosses to sophomore Ryan Thompson (Oakland, N.J./Indian Hills).
Senior linebacker Kodie McNamara (Manasquan, N.J./Manasquan) piled up a career-high 20 tackles in the victory and became just the ninth Bullet to reach 300 career stops. McNamara is the first Gettysburg player with 20 or more tackles since Grant Acker '05 against Rochester in 2004. Senior Michael Kornegay (Montclair, N.J./Montclair) added a personal best 13 tackles.
Coming off a five-overtime victory over Division II Millersville University, Ursinus applied the defensive pressure early and held Gettysburg to just 54 yards on its first five possessions. Eric Boyer opened the scoring with a 43-yard field goal on the game's first possession. Backed up inside their own 10, the Bullets gave up a safety as the snap flew over punter Robby Fay's (New Providence, N.J./New Providence) head through the back of the end zone at the end of the first quarter.
Boyer added a 32-yard field goal at the start of the second period to make it 8-0.
After giving up 113 yards to the Bears on the first three drives, Gettysburg's defense allowed just 59 yards and forced punts on the next six possessions by the visitors.
"We changed a lot of things," said Calatozzo. "We played more man in the second half. Our defensive line put a lot of pressure on the quarterback which forced bad throws and made my job pretty easy."
The offense, meanwhile, started to click in the second quarter and scored its first touchdown as McDermott found senior Travis Andrews (Phoenixville, Pa./Phoenixville) for a 33-yard strike with 2:38 before the half. The two-point try failed to leave the score at 8-6 at the break.
The Bullets posted the longest drive of the game on the first possession of the final half, racking up 85 yards on 16 plays. A 17-yard carry by freshman Matt McFadden (Morristown, N.J./Morristown Beard) put the hosts in the red zone and three plays later, McDermott found Thompson for a two-yard touchdown reception. The two-point conversion was good to give Gettysburg a 14-8 advantage.
A 17-yard pass from McDermott to senior tailback Kyle Wigley (Medford, N.J./Shawnee) kick-started another scoring drive in the third quarter. Once again, McDermott found Thompson in the end zone with the sophomore also reeling in the two-point try to make it 22-8 at the end of three quarters.
"On the first, we've been working on that play a lot on the goal line situations," said Thompson. "Sam trusted me and threw me the ball and I caught it. The second one was the same thing. I beat my guy outside and Sam threw me the ball."
The Bears pulled within a touchdown early in the fourth stanza as Corey Kelly barreled his way into the end zone. Ursinus drove into Gettysburg territory on each of its next two possessions, but the visitors turned the ball over on downs each time. An incomplete pass ended the first drive, while a five-yard sack by junior Michael Pennella (Martinsville, N.J./Bridgewater Raritan) put a halt to the second.
With under two minutes remaining, Thompson hauled in a big 18-yard reception on third-and-long to set up a first down inside the Ursinus 30-yard line. Just two plays later, McDermott and McFadden failed to connect on a pitch and Ursinus recovered the ball with 1:36 left.
Bear quarterback Salvatore Bello eyed up a receiver on the right side, but Calatozzo read the play and leaped in front of the pass for his second interception in as many contests. Gettysburg took two knees to seal the decision.
"The mindset on defense is whenever we're called to play, we play," said Calatozzo. "We knew they were going to be passing since there wasn't that much time on the clock. I read the quarterback and I just jumped the play."
"It was huge," noted Streeter. "We've talked all along about playing aggressive all the time. Doesn't matter what the score is. It's our ball, go get it and that's exactly what he did."
Wigley carried the ball 21 times for 72 yards and added 37 yards on two receptions. Thompson finished with five catches for 79 yards and junior Jordan Kelso (Cookstown, N.J./Bordentown Regional) caught four balls for 46 yards. Fay averaged 40.2 yards on six punts with five of those falling inside the opponent's 20-yard line.
Sophomore Joey DeCristofaro (East Windsor, N.J./Hightstown) posted nine tackles, while Calatozzo and junior Chris Miller (Manasquan, N.J./Manasquan) each finished with seven stops.
For Ursinus, Kelly carried the ball 27 times for 127 yards. Bello finished 22-of-43 for 174 yards and Nick Lundholm hauled in seven catches for 65 yards. Tim Rafter posted 14 tackles to pace the Bears' defense.
Gettysburg heads to Juniata College next Saturday, Sept. 19. Game time is 1 p.m.