CARLISLE, Pa. – The Little Brown Bucket will maintain its spot in the trophy case at Gettysburg College as the Bullets powered past rival Dickinson College 36-27 in Centennial Conference football action at Biddle Field on Saturday afternoon.
Gettysburg (4-5, 4-4 CC) won the Bucket for the second consecutive year in its 80th meeting with Dickinson (3-6, 3-5 CC). Sophomore Chris Miller (Manasquan, N.J./Manasquan) picked off a pass late in the fourth quarter to set up a rushing touchdown by senior Zach Miller (Madison, Conn./Daniel Hand) to help seal the victory.
The Bullets easily handled the Red Devils 42-7 last fall, but Saturday was a much different affair. The hosts used up only three plays on their second drive of the game with quarterback Cole Ahnell rushing 65 yards into the end zone for a 7-0 lead.
Gettysburg covered 66 yards and drove down to the two yard-line of the Red Devils, but the Orange and Blue was forced to settle on a 19-yard field goal by sophomore Garrett Long (Mechanicsburg, Pa./Cumberland Valley) to cut the margin to 7-3.
Following a three-and-out by Dickinson, the Bullets piled up 44 yards on the ground with senior Nick Ulassin (Branchburg, N.J./Somerville) running in from three yards out to set the visitors ahead 10-7 at the end of the opening quarter of play.
Gettysburg and Dickinson exchanged scores in the second quarter with the former finding pay-dirt on a six-yard pass from Miller to Fred Caruso (Sinking Spring, Pa./Holy Name) and a one-yard rush by junior Kyle Wigley (Medford, N.J./Shawnee). The Red Devils picked up a 33-yard field goal by Adam Kaminski and capped the half with a 32-yard pass from Ahnell to Devin Gaby to cut the deficit to 23-17 at the break.
Dickinson's first possession of the third quarter ate up more than eight minutes and contained 14 plays covering 93 yards. Ahnell and Cedric Madden accounted for most of the damage with the former finding the latter for a 10-yard scoring strike which lifted the hosts in front 24-23 with 5:39 to go in the third period.
After being held out of the scoring column in the third quarter, Gettysburg converted on its first possession of the fourth as Zach Miller found senior tight end Fred Pulzello (Glen Rock, N.J./Glen Rock) for a 38-yard reception to put the Bullets in front 29-24. The ensuing two-point conversion failed.
Gettysburg's defense forced a three-and-out, but a penalty for roughing the kicker handed the ball right back to the Red Devils. The hosts drove into the red zone and converted a 31-yard field goal to slice the lead to 29-27 with 8:50 remaining.
Dickinson regained the ball with just over five minutes remaining. After a series of short gains, Ahnell's pass was picked off by Chris Miller on the host's side of the field. The Bullets made the most of the short field with Zach Miller converting on a 13-yard run to up the lead to 36-27 with just over a minute remaining.
Gettysburg finished with 427 yards of total offense, including 280 on the ground. The Bullets also picked up 31 first downs compared to 18 for the hosts. Noteworthy, Gettysburg finished 10-of-16 on third-down conversions and converted all five of its red-zone opportunities.
Gettysburg claimed the Bucket, which has been handed out to the Gettysburg-Dickinson winner since 1938, in back-to-back seasons for the first time since 1985-86.
Zach Miller finished 15-of-20 for 147 yards and two touchdowns. He became just the fourth Bullet to go over 4,000 career passing yards (4,021) in the contest. The senior QB also rushed for a career-high 99 yards on 14 carries.
Wigley produced his third 100-yard rushing outing of the year, finishing with 130 yards on 28 carries. Ulassin carried the ball 19 times for 59 yards. Caruso paced the Bullets with 131 all-purpose yards, including 89 on five kick-off returns.
Defensively, Chris Miller posted a team-high 10 tackles with one sack and the interception. Junior Kodie McNamara (Manasquan, N.J./Manasquan) added nine stops, while junior Dan Ciemniecki (Haddonfield, N.J./Haddonfield) and senior John Fay (Bernardsville, N.J./Morristown-Beard) each posted eight tackles.
Ahnell finished 17-of-26 for 188 yards and two touchdowns, while adding 74 yards on the ground for the Red Devils. Madden carried the ball 22 yards for 105 yards and Anders Overhaug caught seven passes for 82 yards. Kevin Ioannidis and Pat Schlecker each posted a dozen stops.
Gettysburg closes the regular season at home against Franklin & Marshall College (5-4, 4-4 CC) on Saturday, Nov. 15, at 1 p.m. Not only is it the final game for the Bullet seniors, Saturday's contest will mark the 100th meeting between the two rivals. For the first time, the winner of this game and every meeting going forward will receive an award called the "Lincoln Football Trophy." The series, which began in 1890, is tied 46-46-7.