We had some time off with a bye week after a hard fought win on the road at Gettysburg. The guys played well and really did a nice job of prepping prior to our trip to play the Bullets.
I drove over to Gettysburg and then following our victory I took a nine hour detour to the house in Michigan. During those hours traveling I spent a great deal of time reviewing our current season and singing (terribly off keyI might add) to my newly discovered Spotify.
Although the record at the halfway point is not what we had hoped for and planned on – there is a lot of growth to look forward to. Many things within the program and seeing improvement in the “troops” leads me to feel optimistic about the remaining month or so of the season.
I have seen many of our younger players make some big jumps on and off the field as they move through the opening part of college. Our veterans continue to work hard and although the results are not in the record book – YET – we continue to make steady improvement.
There is no question that we will have a bright future in Greyhound Land as we approach the second half of the season and look farther down the road to future successes. We just need to focus in and work to improve incrementally every day.
When I got home well – I found a nice detailed plan from my Boss (Wife) who just happened to be gone. She was in Santa Fe or Phoenix or somewhere in the great American southwest.
That plan had me working four ten hour days on winterizing the house etc. Well, so I am exaggerating to some degree. However, there was plenty to do – but most of these tasks permitted the usual chance to have a beer or ten.
Cleaned up the basement – the mess I had made myself. Worked on the lawn – visited the neighbors for a nice cookout with the other empty nesters on our corner – drank a little more beer.
Worked hard on the patio of the outdoor kitchen….cleaning the brick pavers
and putting down some new sand to seal up the cracks. In general just got a lot of needed work done. Then, of course there was the beer to be had.
The bye week ends and we get on with the preparations for Susquehanna and prepare for one of the better Centennial Conference teams to come to Steel Field.
A look at Susquehanna:
This is a very solid team that is ranked in the top 25 of the Division III teams. Once again they were able to defeat Johns Hopkins (no easy task) but were unable to handle Muhlenberg.
By the way all three of those teams mentioned in the last paragraph are ranked! The CC has some very tough competition within its framework.
They have some very exciting offensive players on the perimeter (you can see in the information below) and a very stingy defense.
The Hounds have their work cut out for them….but, that is something we are ale about. Getting ready to show our wares on the field this weekend!
SUSQUEHANNA UNIVERSITY
2019 RECORD: 4-1
Susquehanna 42 – Lycoming 26
- Davon Ellington’s (5) 179 yards rushing including two runs of over 60 yards paved the way for an opening day win for host Susquehanna.
- Susquehanna outgained the visitors 541-312 in the win.
- Samuel Darrell caught a 54-yard pass from Michael Ruisch (15) to push the River Hawks to a 23-17 halftime lead. Ruisch (15) was 18-30 for 294 yards and a pair of TD passes.
- David Simpson (31) led the strong SU defense with 11 tackles as the River Hawks held Lycoming to just 81 yards rushing.
Susquehanna 28 – Johns Hopkins 27
- For the second year in a row Susquehanna upset highly ranked Johns Hopkins – this time on the road. The 28-17 win was highlighted by a 21 point fourth quarter.
- Down 24-7 with little more than 12 minutes left in the game SU managed three scoring drives – one of 99 yards.
- Michael Ruisch (15) threw for 287 yards while competing 25 of 42 passes (2 TD and 2 INT).He connected with Frank DePaola (82) with eight seconds left to tie the game and Elijah Hoffman (9) kicked the winning extra point.
- DePaola finished with 8 catches for 95 yards.
- The physical Susquehanna defense held the Blue Jays to just 39 yards rushing. Craig Raines had a game high 11 tackles with Nick Sottile (20) and T’Rell Bradley (2) making eight stops each.
Muhlenberg 24 – Susquehanna 17 (Overtime)
- In a game of two nationally ranked teams – Muhlenberg at #8 and Susquehanna at #25 – the Mules won in overtime in Allentown 24-17.
- In a hard-fought game Muhlenberg held a 7-3 halftime lead as both teams played well on defense. T’Rell Bradley’s (2) interception set up the only three points for SU in the first half.
- The teams traded TD’s in the third quarter as Michael Ruisch (15) ran for a 14-yard score for the River Hawks.
- Susquehanna tied the game late – following a Muhlenberg FG. SU scored with just 34 seconds left when Michael Ruisch (15) connected with Mikah Christian (3) on a 36-yard score.
- Muhlenberg scored first in the overtime period and then was able to stop Michael Ruisch (15) just short of the first down marker to win the game.
- Michael Ruisch (15) threw for 242 yards on 23-36. But, he was sacked five times and had two interceptions.
- Cole Dixon (4) had 11 tackles and David Simpson (31) 9 in a losing effort.
- This tight game saw SU outgain the Mules 344-248, but turnovers and big miscues allowed the home team to win the game.
Susquehanna 42 – Franklin and Marshall 13
- Susquehanna handed visiting F&M its first loss of the season.
- Receivers Anthony McCoy (87) and Mikah Christian (3) had big days for Susquehanna combining for five scores. McCoy (87) had three scores and Christian (3) had 3 catches for 124 yards.
- Michael Ruisch (15) had a big day throwing career best five TD’s and completing 18 of 26 throws for 268 yards.
- Defensively Cole Dixon (4) led the way with 8 tackles and Danial Shelton (1) and Brendan Krumenacker (46) both had seven each.
- Susquehanna’s defense held F&M to just 49 yards passing which allowed the River Hawks to hold the visitors to under 200 yards overall.
- Da’Avian Ellington (5) had a big day running the ball for the winners as he rushed for 109 yards on 13 tries – scoring once.
Susquehanna 24 – Dickinson 17
- Susquehanna moved to 4-1 on the season with a 24-17 win over visiting Dickinson in a nip and tuck game.
- The teams traded leads until Michael Ruisch (15) threw 41 yards to Mikah Johnson (3) in the third quarter to give the River Hawks the lead that they never gave up.
- Johnson (3) had 103 yards on 5 catches that included two TD’s.
- Susquehanna held the Red Devils to 127 yards passing and had an overall 351-269 edge in yardage gained.
- Michael Rausch (15) was 14-28 for 255 yards and a pair of TD’s and Davon Ellington (5) carried the ball for 87 yards.
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