WESTMINSTER, MD (October 22, 2022) – Riding a six-game win streak, Susquehanna football hit the road for the second-straight week, traveling to face McDaniel College on Saturday afternoon. The River Hawks would see that streak grow to seven as they left Maryland with a 58-0 victory over the Green Terror.
The game would begin and immediately go in SU's favor, as McDaniel received the opening kickoff and had a turnover on their very first drive. After a two-yard loss on their first down rush and a false start penalty brought up 2nd and 17, a fumble went eight yards further back and was recovered by Josh Buck at the McDaniel 7, giving SU an immediate red zone opportunity. That would pay off on the River Hawks' very first play on offense, with Michael Ruisch dropping back and finding Jacob Erb for a 7-yard touchdown pass. Elijah Hoffman would follow it up with a made PAT, the first of six that he would make on the day.
The next drive for the Green Terror would last much longer, as the offense put up a 17 play, 68-yard drive, converting once on third and once on fourth down, eventually stalling at the SU 20-yard line. All those plays would result in no points though, as McDaniel would miss on the field goal attempt. That drive would be the longest of the day for McDaniel and the closest they would come to getting points.
The next drive for SU would see the beginning of a dominant game for the connection between Ruisch and wide receiver Kyle Howes. An eight play, 80-yard drive for the River Hawks saw them work methodically down the field before Ruisch found an open Howes for a 17-yard touchdown pass. The pair would link up again only a few minutes later, beginning the second quarter with a touchdown just 17 seconds into the quarter. Howes would get wide open across the middle of the field and catch an on-target ball from Ruisch before taking it 51 yards to paydirt, giving Susquehanna a 21-0 lead and scoring his second TD of the game, Ruisch registering his third.
The next touchdown pass found tight end Michael Lefever just five minutes later, and then Ruisch would get a score with his legs with 4:09 remaining in the first half, carrying in from three yards out to cap off a 10 play, 79-yard drive. A 26-yard field goal from Hoffman would be the final score before halftime, making it 38-0 as the teams headed to the locker room.
The opening drive of the second half saw Howes score his third touchdown and get Ruisch his fifth passing score of the day, with another long connection down the field. On just the third play of the half, Howes would breeze past his man down the right sideline and Ruisch dropped the ball right on him for a 45-yard score.
The second-string entered the game for the River Hawks from there and looked to pick up right where the first had left off. The defense's second turnover of the game came at 10:33 in the third quarter as first-year defensive back Edwin Thomas III nabbed an interception on a first down play for McDaniel. Kicker Christian Colasurdo stepped up with the next two scores for SU, kicking a 22-yard field goal midway through the third quarter and hitting a 26-yarder at the 11:54 mark in the fourth quarter. The final score came late, as a ten play, 66-yard drive for SU in the waning minutes culminated in a five-yard touchdown pass from Brayden Knoblauch to first-year tight end Michael Robbins.
Ruisch finished with an impressive statline, going 17 for 21 in the air for 277 yards and five touchdowns, while adding 19 yards and another score on the ground to total six touchdowns and over 300 yards on offense. Howes ended with five catches for 126 yards and three touchdowns, career-high marks in yardage and scores.
The River Hawks will return home next week for a major Centennial Conference matchup, hosting Johns Hopkins University, the only other undefeated team in the conference. The winner would position themselves alone at the top of the standings and have a great chance of claiming the conference title. Susquehanna will also be celebrating Homecoming weekend and will be sure to have a massive contingent at Doug Arthur Stadium. The game will kick off 1 pm on Saturday the 29th.
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--RIVER HAWKS--
