LANCASTER, Pa. – Sophomore Joey DeCristofaro (East Windsor, N.J./Hightstown) tied a school record with three interceptions, all in the fourth quarter, as Gettysburg College knocked off Franklin & Marshall College 21-7 and claimed the Lincoln Trophy at Sponaugle-Williamson Field on Saturday.
One week after defeating Dickinson College and claiming the Little Brown Bucket, Gettysburg (7-3, 6-3 CC) made it a clean sweep in rivalry month for the second consecutive season by taking down Franklin & Marshall (6-4, 5-4 CC). It is the first time the Bullets have beaten both of their rivals in back-to-back seasons since 1952-53.
"At the beginning of the season we don't even look at November because we just know what's going to happen," said senior tight end Fred Pulzello (Glen Rock, N.J./Glen Rock), who caught a pair of touchdown passes. "We know what's at stake with both trophies and both rivalries. The coaches do a great job of preparing us for those and it's great to be able to hold onto those trophies the last two years."
It was a defensive struggle from the outset as both teams traded turnovers and a pair of punts in the first period. Gettysburg made the first strong offensive push near the end of the period. A 15-yard rush by senior James O'Rourke (Westfield, N.J./Westfield) put the visitors in Diplomat territory and senior Sam McDermott (Newtown, Pa./Notre Dame (N.J.)) polished off the drive with a 14-yard scoring strike to Pulzello.
"It gave us a lot of confidence, but it was a defensive battle," said Head Coach Barry Streeter about his team's first touchdown. "It was going to come down to who was going to get the big play that's going to give the offense enough momentum to get in."
Franklin & Marshall answered the call with a 12-play, 75-yard scoring drive. All but two of the plays were on the ground with Dave Shellhammer carrying the ball across the goal line to tie the score.
Despite driving into enemy territory once apiece in the second quarter, neither team was able to convert before the end of the first half.
"I think both defenses played really well today," said Pulzello. "So going into the half, we knew what we wanted to do. We've played our best ball in the second half all season so we just looked at each other in the locker room and knew we had to get the job done."
The third quarter was quiet as each team punted the ball away twice in the frame. The fourth started on a similar note with each side kicking the ball away on their first two possessions.
The pendulum started to swing to the Orange and Blue when DeCristofaro stepped in front of a pass near midfield for his first interception with 9:18 left in the game. Gettysburg converted a pair of third downs with McDermott completing a 29-yard pass to senior Brandon Sparks (New Hope, Pa./Central Bucks East) to reach the red zone. Pulzello caught his second touchdown to push the lead to 14-7 with 7:33 to go.
On Franklin & Marshall's very next drive, DeCristofaro once again came up big with his second interception which he carried to the Diplomat 42-yard line. Senior Kyle Wigley (Medford, N.J./Shawnee) bulled his way for 38 yards on three carries and McDermott tossed his third touchdown of the day to sophomore Ryan Thompson (Oakland, N.J./Indian Hill) with 3:28 remaining.
"When you score that late in a tight game like that," noted Streeter, "it can deflate your opponent and we were fortunate that we were the ones who scored."
Franklin & Marshall churned out yardage on its last-ditch effort to get back into the scoring column, but once again it was DeCristofaro who spoiled the day for the hosts. With the Diplomats on the 26-yard line of Gettysburg, the sophomore linebacker leaped high into the air for his third pick of the game with 1:23 left. DeCristofaro tied the program record held by six other Bullets and last achieved in 1990.
"To be honest I don't really remember a lot of it," said DeCristofaro. "It's so surreal to me that it happened. I wasn't going in thinking I'm going to get another pick. I was going in thinking we need to finish this game up and finish this game strong."
Gettysburg ran out the clock to clinch the win.
The Bullets received a well-rounded effort, particularly from its senior class. Wigley, who missed the last two meetings against the Diplomats due to injury, carried the ball 18 times for 97 yards. McDermott finished 11-of-23 for 99 yards and three touchdowns, while adding 73 yards on 11 carries. The senior quarterback finished his year with a program-record 25 touchdown passes.
Gettysburg rolled up 321 rushing yards in the win thanks to a solid offensive line manned by four seniors. Senior Paul Lowry (Midland Park, N.J./Midland Park) added 54 yards on five carries. Senior Robby Fay (New Providence, N.J./New Providence) averaged 38.4 yards on five punts and posted a 14-yard rush on a faked punt.
DeCristofaro was everywhere for Gettysburg as he turned in a game-high 14 tackles. Freshman Mike McKnight (West Chester, Pa./Bayard Rustin) totaled 11 tackles, while senior Kodie McNamara (Manasquan, N.J./Manasquan) posted 10 stops. McNamara closed his career second in school history with 396 career tackles.
Gettysburg's senior class finished with an impressive combined record of 6-2 against Dickinson and Franklin & Marshall.
"Their leadership was great the last two weeks," said Streeter. "They just played their tails off. They wanted this badly. They just willed themselves into that. I'm just excited for these kids. It's a big win."