GETTYSBURG, Pa.  – Gettysburg College jumped out with the first 20 points and then held Juniata College scoreless over the final 25 minutes to earn a 33-17 victory in Centennial Conference football action at Shirk Field at Musselman Stadium Saturday.
 
The victory was the first of the season for first-year Head Coach Kevin Burke '90. Burke, who took over for long-time coach Barry Streeter this fall, earned his last win as a head coach in 2003, when he was the leader of the program at Juniata (0-6, 0-5 CC).
 
"I'm just really happy for the seniors," said Burke. "They've been working their tails off for four years. I'm happy for them for having so much excitement in the locker room after the game. Really it's not about the coaches. It's about the players."
 
Gettysburg (1-5, 1-4 CC) wasted no time getting on the scoreboard. Senior tailback Nick Rella (Denville, N.J./Morristown-Beard) led the charge with nine carries for 33 yards on the team's opening drive. The senior's one-yard plunge into the end zone opened the day's scoring.
 
Juniata managed one yard on its next possession and special teams came up huge for the Bullets as sophomore Justin Lessel (Orefield, Pa./Parkland) blocked the punt and Gettysburg came up with the loose ball. Junior Justin Geisel (Charlotte, N.C./Charlotte Country Day School) polished off the ensuing drive with a 31-yard field goal to make it 10-0.
 
The defense held Juniata to just 20 yards on its first seven possessions and the offense made the visitors pay by scoring on four consecutive drives. Geisel booted another field goal, this one from 38 yards to cap the scoring in the first quarter, while sophomore Mike Welsh (Medford, N.J./Shawnee) fired a 17-yard touchdown strike to classmate Kevin O'Hanlon (Doylestown, Pa./Central Bucks West) to make it 20-0 with 12 minutes left in the opening half.
 
Gettysburg's defense held the Eagles to just 25 yards in the opening half, while the Bullet rushing attack racked up 153 yards in the first 30 minutes.
 
"We wanted to do a lot of things," noted Burke. "Number one, we wanted to run the football ourselves. That first drive really helped us do that and we got a lot of confidence from that because we were able to run the football. Defensively we wanted to stop their run and force them to pass because we thought our pass rush could do a decent job on them and fortunately we were able to do that today."
 
Juniata finally cracked the scoring column late in the game when Welsh was forced out of the pocket and had the ball stripped away deep in his own territory. The Eagles made the most of the short field and Ian Border rushed in from 10 yards out for the team's first score. A 39-yard field goal by Sam Craig cut the deficit down to 20-10 at the half.
 
On its first drive of the second half, Juniata took advantage of several penalties by the Bullets to push its way 62 yards for another touchdown. Jason Jones connected with Alex Stoner on a short toss to pull the Eagles with a field goal at 20-17.
 
After giving up 135 yards on Juniata's previous two drives, the Gettysburg defense refocused on the sideline thanks words of encouragement from Co-Defensive Coordinator Mike Hoyt.
 
"Coach Hoyt gave us a reminder to make sure everyone knows where they're lining up and what their assignment is on the play," said senior defensive end Logan Aikey (Lewisburg, Pa./Lewisburg). "It was a challenge for us to get some pressure on the quarterback, force him to make bad throws, and try to make him force something so we could turn the ball around and get our offense back on the field."
 
The Bullets allowed only 34 more yards in the game and put constant pressure on Jones in the pocket, eventually posting four sacks and a pair of takeaways in the final 25 minutes.
 
The offense responded with junior Andrew Howard (Swansea, Mass./Moses Brown School) scoring a six-yard touchdown to push the lead back to double-figures at 27-17. The highlight of the drive was a 34-yard reception down the left side-line by senior Johnny Davis (Mahwah, N.J./Mahwah) on third-and-four.
 
After Geisel padded the lead with a 24-yard chip shot early in the fourth quarter, the Bullets went after Jones on the ensuing possession. Aikey and junior Jordan Mason (Horsham, Pa./Hatboro-Horsham) brought down the Eagles' signal caller for big losses as Juniata totaled negative-six yards on the drive.
 
The defense put the game to rest with back-to-back interceptions. First, senior Mike McKnight (West Chester, Pa./Bayard Rustin) ripped the ball away from the would-be-receiver for his second pick of the year. Sophomore Thomeir Richardson (Trenton, N.J./Trenton Central) recorded the final takeaway with his conference-leading fourth interception of the season.
 
In between the takeaways, Geisel kicked a 41-yard field goal to tie the program record for field goals made in a game. The last Gettysburg kicker to hit four kicks was Jim Flynn '86 against the United States Merchant Marine Academy in 1984. Geisel has hit seven field goals in the last two games and improved to 8-of-8 on the year.
 
"To be able to put up 21 points over the last two weeks is huge for this team," said the junior. "I feel good that I can do my job and I just love my guys. I'm doing it for them."                     
 
Gettysburg turned in a season-high 241 yards on the ground with both Rella and Howard setting new personal highs for the second consecutive week. Rella tallied 90 yards on 23 carries, while Howard posted 76 yards on 20 carries.
 
"We both talk to each other about what we're seeing and we just work off each other," said the senior. "It's a 1-2 punch and finally we got to show it."
 
Welsh added 49 yards on 13 carries and completed 11-of-17 passes for 129 yards. Nine Bullets caught passes from the sophomore with freshman Joey Razzano (Dillsburg, Pa./Northern York) totaling three for 32 yards.
 
In addition to the interception, Richardson was busy in the return game, posting 26 yards on five punt returns and 99 yards on three kickoff returns. Gettysburg posted eight pass break-ups in the game with Mason adding three to go along with six tackles and his two sacks. Senior Jake Skinner (Annapolis, Md./Broadneck) led the team with nine tackles, while Aikey posted three stops, 1.5 sacks, a pass break-up, and three hurries on the quarterback.
 
Jones finished 22-of-50 for 164 yards for Juniata. Half of his passes went to Daulton Snyder who finished with 78 yards. Lane Chalmers posted 38 yards on eight carries. Dan Drop, Jr. led the Eagles with 13 tackles and two tackles for a loss.
 
Gettysburg heads into the bye week before the final month of the season. The Bullets resume action at home against Johns Hopkins University on Saturday, Oct. 20, at 1 p.m. The short reprieve is a welcome sight for the first-year coach as his team continues to build momentum for a strong finish to the season.
 
"We want to improve on what we're trying to do and get better," said Burke. "That's what our game plan is. We're going to give the players some good time off. They'll come back on Tuesday ready to work and get a little bit better every day."