SELINSGROVE, PA (October 23, 2021) -- The Susquehanna University football team started slow, leading just 17-16 at half, but shutout visiting McDaniel College in the second half while putting 28 points on the board in pulling away for a 45-16 win over the Green Terror in Centennial Conference action Saturday in Doug Arthur Stadium. The game was marred early on with strange plays, driving rain and other quirky plays on Homecoming, but the River Hawks were able to right things in the second half for their school-record 15th straight win.
The River Hawks (7-0, 6-0 Centennial Conference) started fast on the opening drive, as the squad finished a nine-play, 75-yard drive on a spectacular catch by Sammy Darrell in the back of the end zone over a McDaniel defender.
That's when the oddities would start to occur after McDaniel finished their first drive with three points to make it 8-3 at the end of the first quarter. The Green Terror would take the lead early on in the second on one of the strangest plays one could think of, as kicker Peyton Denlinger came on for a 23-yard field goal attempt.The snap was low, forcing the holder to scramble, but as he was being pulled down he flipped the ball to Denlinger. The kicker then tossed a pass into the end zone, where Diondre Carter was there for the six-yard touchdown score.
McDaniel (1-6, 1-5 Centennial) continued to take advantage of its special teams play with just under four minutes to play, blocking a punt and taking the recovery into the end zone for a 16-8 lead.
On the ensuing drive, Susquehanna took advantage of a roughing the punter call to extend the march, and seven plays later senior quarterback Michael Ruisch hit Eddie Nugent for a 13-yard touchdown score to make it 16-14 following a failed two-point conversion. SU for the fourth time this season got the ball right back on a forced fumble on the kickoff, and Elijah Hoffman converted on a 25-yard field goal to send SU into the break with a 17-16 lead.
Aftter the break, Susquehanna forced McDaniel into four punts, a missed field goal and an interception while surrendering only 52 yards of offense to the Green Terror on the last six drives. The River Hawks would use that momentum from the defense on the other side of the ball, as Ruisch connected with Michael Lefever for a 52-yard score with 31 seconds left in the third quarter to make it 24-16. It was the third consecutive game with a touchdown score of longer than 50 yards for the tight end.
The defense would force a three-and-out, and Susquehanna cashed in on a five-play drive with a four-yard pitch and catch from Ruisch to Darrell to make it 31-16. The big play on the possession was a 47-yard completion to Darrell after Ruisch bought time in the backfield and found Darrell down at the McDaniel four-yard line.
On the next play from scrimmage for McDaniel, Keith Green picked off John Allen Furgeson of MC and Dashon Bundy rumbled in for a 15-yard scoring scamper to up the SU lead to 38-16. The final scoring play of the game for SU came with 1:14 left in the game, as Gavin Coles pushed in from four yards away for his second collegiate score.
Offensively, Ruisch threw four four touchdowns and no interceptions but struggled early in the game with accuracy, going 15-for-39. The senior quarterback did rush for 58 yards on eight carries, while junior running back Frankie Negrini had 52 yards on 19 carries. Bundy added 42 yards on seven totes, and Kyle Howes also rushed once for 12 yards.
Darrell finished with five grabs for 94 yards and the two touchdowns, and Lefever posted three catches for 73 yards and the long touchdown grab. Defensively, Craig Roumes was everywhere for the River Hawks as he posted 14 assisted tackles including 1.5 tackles for loss. Brendan Krumenacker tallied 10 stops, 2.5 for loss, along with a hurry and pass break up.
Sal Gurnari and Drew Robinson each had six tackles, and Anthony Scicchitano added five stops and a sack. SU allowed just nine first downs on the day, including only two on the ground. Susquehanna outgained McDaniel 416-285, and converted seven of its 15 third-down attempts on the day.
McDaniel saw Furgeson go 8-of-21 for 170 yards passing, while Carter finished with 78 yards rushing on 14 carries.
SU has now not lost at home since 2018, having posted 13 straight home victories along with not having lost in regulation over a stretch of 23 games dating back to a home loss to Moravian on October 6, 2018
Up Next
- The River Hawks will now get into its toughest two-game stretch of the season, heading to Baltimore, MD next weekend to battle No. 20 Johns Hopkins University Saturday, October 30 at 1 p.m. in Centennial Conference play.