GETTYSBURG, Pa. – Head Coach Maurice Banks will finally get his first taste of action as a collegiate head coach and leader of the Gettysburg College football team when the Bullets hit the turf for a non-conference road game at Bridgewater College this Saturday at 1:30 p.m.
Banks arrived on the Gettysburg campus during the spring semester of 2020, just a few weeks before the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic. With the cancellation of the 2020 football campaign, Banks had yet to see his whole team on the field since arriving in Gettysburg, but that all changed with an exciting and productive preseason in August.
Entering the regular season, the Bullets will field a roster of 104 student-athletes looking to start a legacy of success under the new head coach. Among that number are 57 freshmen and sophomores who are just beginning to enjoy a full-fledged experience as college football student-athletes.
"It's been really good to finally get the entire team together and actually get work done on the field," said Banks, who arrived at Gettysburg following assistant coaching stints at Georgetown University and the University of Pennsylvania. "It's been a good experience to have some time to work on building the culture before we actually got on the field. The expectation of what the standard is has already been set and guys have come out and done a really good job with it."
Banks and his coaching staff spent the majority of the 2020-21 academic year maintaining ties with their student-athletes, who were spread across the country engaging in remote or on-campus study. The program was far from idle despite the circumstances, developing new offensive and defensive schemes, engaging in enhanced workout routines, and concentrating on building a new team culture.
The coaching staff was aided in their efforts by a large and dedicated senior class, which is ready to put the turmoil of last year in the rearview mirror and take advantage of every moment on the turf with their teammates. There are 26 seniors on this year's roster, making it the largest class in the 131-year history of Bullets football.
"It's been huge for us to have this big senior class because they've stepped up and done a good job," noted Banks. "The guys that have stuck around and stuck it out in that senior class have really taken the lead and they want to finish out strong. They've taken it serious and have helped guide the younger guys toward what we're looking for. They know this is their last shot and they want to do a good job with it."
Included in the mix are senior captains Alex Raimondo (Coatesville, Pa./Coatesville), Matt Lynch (Bridgewater, N.J./Immaculata), Matt Lajoie (Mount Laurel, N.J./Lenape), and Chris Vass (New Providence, N.J./New Providence).
Raimondo is the lone returning all-conference player, earning All-Centennial Conference Honorable Mention at defensive end after finishing second in the league in sacks (9.5) and fourth in tackles for a loss (14) in 2019. Lynch is a returning starter at linebacker and led the Bullets with 76 tackles to go with eight tackles for a loss and 3.5 sacks two years ago. Lajoie was the team's top target with 26 catches for 346 yards as a sophomore. Vass saw regular action in the backfield and totaled 48 yards on 14 carries in 2019.
Those four captains aren't alone in the area of experience with Gettysburg returning a total of 20 players that saw time in at least five games during the 2019 campaign. A lot of the experience will come on the defensive side of the field with seniors Mike Galaida (Mount Laurel, N.J./Lenape), Von Musgrove (St. Petersburg, Fla./Clearwater Central Catholic), Mike Cassidy (Wall, N.J./Wall), and Brian Gentilello (Clifton, N.J./Bergen Catholic), and junior Justin Adedinsewo (Pottstown, Pa./The Hill School) all earning time in the starting lineup two years ago.
Musgrove, Cassidy, and Adedinsewo saw their action in the secondary, while Gentilello played on the defensive line. Galaida, a linebacker, finished fifth on the team in both tackles (50) and tackles for a loss (5.5) in 2019.
Senior linebackers Johnny O'Beirne (Holmdel, N.J./Holmdel) and Rich Cardaci, Jr. (Matawan, N.J./Old Bridge), senior defensive back Brian Bradley (Madison, N.J./Madison), senior defensive end Kevin Park (Basking Ridge, N.J./Ridge), and junior defensive end Noah Evans (Chestertown, Md./Queen Anne's County) will also be among the leading candidates to grab starting roles this fall.
Gettysburg will feature a new-look offense with Banks elevating assistant coach Andy Dicken into the Offensive Coordinator role. Dicken, who had previously coached the wide receiver corps, will look to a smaller group of experienced veterans on the offensive side of the ball. Those veterans include Lajoie and fellow wide-outs Sal DeBenedetto (Old Tappen, N.J./Northern Valley) and Mike Vigliano (Mechanicsburg, Pa./Mechanicsburg), junior quarterback Logan Edmond (Coopersburg, Pa./Southern Lehigh), senior tight end Andrew Lusardi (Basking Ridge, N.J./Ridge), and senior offensive lineman Drew Walton (Chesapeake, Va./Indian River).
DeBenedetto was right behind Lajoie with 343 receiving yards two years ago, including a 98-yard touchdown toss from Edmond against Juniata. Vigliano battled through injuries to make the most of his one catch for a 44-yard touchdown haul against Susquehanna University in 2019. Edmond took over the starting job at quarterback as a first-year and totaled 1,092 passing yards and five touchdowns. He proved to be a dangerous runner when pressured, leading all Centennial signal callers with 600 rushing yards in 2019, including outings of 125 and 159 against Moravian College and Johns Hopkins University, respectively.
Lusardi and Walton join Raimondo and Lynch as the only returning players to get credit for starting all 10 games in 2019. Lusardi caught seven passes for 98 yards, while Walton helped Edmond rack up rushing yardage from his spot at left guard.
Outside of that group, Banks and Dicken will look to an up-and-coming list of players to fill the offensive line and backfield and add depth outside the hashes.
Senior Doug Cummings (Saylorsburg, Pa./Pleasant Valley) is the team's top candidate to fill kicking duties this season. As the back-up behind an all-conference place-kicker and punter in his first two seasons, Cummings stepped up when called upon and connected on a pair field goals and averaged 34.5 yards over 12 punts. Lajoie and DeBenedetto are among the leading options to handle kick returns.
Gettysburg only plays one non-conference game at Bridgewater before embarking on the nine-game Centennial slate. Every game will be a big game for the Bullets this fall, although rivalry trophies highlight three dates. Gettysburg meets Dickinson College for the Little Brown Bucket on Sept. 18, Muhlenberg College for the Old Tin Cup on Oct. 2, and Franklin & Marshall College for the Lincoln Trophy on Nov. 13. The Bullets also entertain Juniata College on Homecoming Weekend Sept. 25 and welcome Johns Hopkins to town for Family Weekend on Oct. 23.
"The goal right now is we want to be competitive in every game we play," said Banks. "We want to get to the fourth quarter with a shot to win and see what we can do. We're making some big strides in being able to do that, but we're in a tough conference with a lot of really good opponents. We want to be a competitive team in our conference."
Spectators are welcome at Shirk Field at Musselman Stadium. Masking is not required outdoors and there are no capacity limits at the venue. Please refer to the COVID-19 Mitigation Policies for additional information.