GETTYSBURG, Pa. --- The Moravian University football squad rallied from a 10-0 halftime deficit to tie the game on the final play of regulation and then post a 16-13 overtime win at Gettysburg College Saturday afternoon to open the 2021 Centennial Conference season.

How It Happened

• The Greyhounds had the first opportunity to score on their opening drive, but junior Trevor Yacuboski had his 32-yard field goal attempt sail wide left
• The squads would trade punts in the only other two drives of a quickly played first quarter.
• The Bullets threatened on their second possession of the game as they drove down to the one-yard line where the Moravian defense stood tall with senior linebacker Noah Breidinger forcing a fumble that was recorded by senior defensive lineman Brady Hornbaker
• The Hounds punted after three plays, and Gettysburg would have a short field and take the lead on the ensuing drive, leading 7-0 with 6:16 left in the second quarter
• Moravian senior quarterback Christopher Mills was intercepted on the first play of the Hounds' next drive, and the Bullets turned the miscue into points with a 44-yard field goal to take a 10-0 lead with 3:09 before the intermission
• The Greyhounds looked to answer before heading to the locker room, but Mills was intercepted at the goal line with just 57 seconds left on the clock
• Gettysburg started with the ball in the second half and drove down to attempt a 47-yard field goal, but the kick sailed wide right
• Moravian took over for its first possession of the third quarter and would get into the red zone once again, however; Mills was intercepted at the goal line for a second time
• After forcing the Bullets into a punt, the Blue and Grey would head into the red zone only to have Mills' pass attempt into the end zone and tipped for another interception for Gettysburg
• The Hounds defense forced a punt early in the fourth quarter, and the offense would find the red zone once more, this time getting on the scoreboard on a 24-yard field goal from Yacuboski to cut the deficit to 10-3 with 10:16 to play
• Gettysburg responded with a 16-play drive that took 7:48 off the clock but would end with a missed field goal to give Moravian possession
• The Greyhounds started at their own 24-yard line, and Mills was sacked on the first play. Mills responded with completions to senior wide receiver Trevor Cunningham for 15, 10 and 10 yards, senior wide receiver Nick Petros for 22 yards and freshman wide receiver Jordan Lewis for 22 yards to move down the six-yard line. After a penalty on the Bullets, Mills found Cunningham with a three-yard touchdown pass on the final play of the fourth quarter. Yacuboski would split the uprights with the extra-point to knot the game at 10-10 and force overtime
• Moravian's defense would limit the Bullets to six yards in the overtime, and Gettysburg settled for a 36-yard field goal and a 13-10 lead
• On the Greyhounds' opening play of overtime, Mills found Cunningham with a 23-yard pass to the two-yard line. Sophomore running back Nate Boyle had back-to-back one-yard runs, the second ending in the end zone to give the Hounds a 16-13 win

Inside the Numbers

• Moravian played its 11th overtime game since the NCAA instituted the rule in 1996, and the Hounds are now 8-3 in overtime. The contest was the Greyhounds' first overtime game since the 2008 season
• The Hounds had 367 yards of total offense including 327 in the air while limiting Gettysburg to 270 yards in the game
• Mills completed 27-of-46 passes for 327 yards with one touchdown and four interceptions. Cunningham had career highs of 12 receptions and 167 yards to go with a touchdown catch, and the 12 receptions are just one shy of the Moravian single game record
• Petros added seven receptions for 85 yards to move into fourth in school history with 131 career catches, and he is also fourth all-time at Moravian with 1,943 career receiving yards
• Lewis made the first two catches of his career for 31 yards while senior wide receiver Cory Little had four catches for 27 yards to go with three kickoff returns for 87 yards
• Boyle finished with 55 yards and his first collegiate touchdown on 16 carries while senior running back Carrington Smith added two rushing attempts for seven yards. Sophomore wide receiver Tim Garlick had his first career reception for 10 yards while senior tight end/fullback Ethan Deater had one catch for seven yards
• Yacuboski punted twice for 59 yards, and he averaged 57.5 yards on three kickoffs. Senior defensive back Connor Lyon returned a pair of punts for 23 yards
• Breidinger led the Moravian defense with 14 tackles with two tackles for loss and a forced fumble while freshman defensive back Chad Newhard had nine stops. Junior linebacker Nick Levinski contributed eight tackles and a quarterback hurry while senior defensive back Romello Walters had seven stops and a pass break-up.
• Senior defensive back Matt McNally made six tackles in his first career start while Hornbaker, senior defensive back Justin McRae and senior linebacker Nicholas Azpeitia each had four stops. Hornbaker added two tackles for loss and a fumble recovery while McRae had one pass break-up and Azpeitia had a half a tackle for loss
• Senior defensive lineman Francis Lagreca and junior defensive lineman Javi Espinal-Katz  combined for the Greyhounds' only sack of the afternoon

Quotable

• "I think we were a little flat in the first half, and Gettysburg was fundamentally sound. We missed a few plays offensively and had a couple of penalties. We also would get a couple of plays going and then shoot ourselves in the foot. We talked at halftime that Gettysburg wasn't doing anything magical out there, we just needed to play our way, have confidence in yourself and the guy next to you, and cut down on the mistakes. We still made some things more difficult than they needed to be in the final 30 minutes. I thought in overtime we play well on both sides of the ball and made some plays, and it is a great win for our guys to start the conference season," commented Head Coach Jeff Pukszyn
• "This game showed Chris's perseverance and his confidence in his teammates as well as their confidence including the coaches in him to overcome the red zone interceptions to lead us back to the victory. Turnovers are a part of the game, but you just have to go one play at a time when they are happening, and Chris did that and got us back on track," Pukszyn said.
• "Trevor is a huge target, and the work that he and Chris put in during the offseason and preseason camp is showing. He does a great job at understanding coverages as well as his route running to get himself open," noted Pukszyn.
• "Brady is really versatile on the offensive line and can play both inside and outside like he did today. He's strong and athletic, and Brady did a good job of pushing the pocket and harassing the quarterback today. Noah in the second level shows his leadership through his work ethic. He controls things in the middle of the field, and he can deliver some hits too and showed that in the run defense today without giving up a lot of yards after the initial hit," Pukszyn stated.
• "I thought Justin McRae played well today, and playing cornerback is not an easy job. He has the confidence to come back for the next play after giving up a reception and I'm proud of how he played today," Pukszyn finished.

Up Next for the Greyhounds

• Saturday, September 18 vs. Susquehanna University, 1:00 p.m.
• Saturday, September 25 vs. Johns Hopkins University, 2:00 p.m.