HUNTINGDON, PA – The Goal Post Trophy remains in Susquehanna's possession for the eighth time in as many games under head coach
Tom Perkovich Saturday, as the River Hawk posted their second straight lopsided shutout with a 56-0 handling at Juniata. The soggy victory pumps Susquehanna up to 7-0 and a 3-0 Landmark record.
Susquehanna rushed out to a 21-0 lead by the end of the first quarter, beginning with quarterback
Josh Ehrlich firing a strike over the middle to a wide-open
Kyle Howes from 14 yards out on SU's opening drive that spanned 60 yards and four-and-a-half minutes on eight plays. Similar to last week's matchup with Keystone, Susquehanna's running game took charge, finishing with five touchdowns on the ground and a net total of 281 yards. Team-leading ground gainer
Tommy Grabowski kept up the intensity with his seventh rushing touchdown of the season on SU's ensuing drive to make it 14-0. The River Hawks then made their third drive of the quarter another successful one, only needing two plays to go the distance as Ehrlich connected downfield with receiver
Kyle Howes for an 80-yard touchdown.
Josh Ehrlich began the second-quarter scoring with a 31-yard scamper for his fifth rushing score of the year to extend the lead to 28-0 and giving the River Hawks its fourth touchdown in as many possessions. While Susquehanna was done for the half in terms of scoring, the defense continued its dominance, stifling Juniata to just six first downs the entire afternoon and allowing just two third-down conversions on 14 tries.
It looked as though the third quarter would be a conservative one before the River Hawks pounded two swift scores late in the period to stretch it to 42 points. With under three minutes left, Grabowski ran it in again from 25 yards out to complete an 84-yard drive on nine plays that took 5:40 off the clock. On Juniata's next possession, quarterback Noah Wright's third-down pass was intercepted by
Keith Green III that he ran back 25 yards for a touchdown to close out the quarter with Susquehanna ahead 42-0.
The final two touchdowns came in the fourth quarter courtesy of the running game once again, this time with
D.K. Wyche running it in from three yards and
Matt Surtz on a 20-yard run. At day's end the quarterback Ehrlich was the team's leading rusher, netting 105 yards on 14 carries with one touchdown, while Grabowski's two-touchdown day bolstered an afternoon where he traveled 102 yards on 15 carries for a 6.8 average. Wyche racked up five carries for 35 yards, while Surtz had four carries for 34 yards.
Through the air Ehlrich completed 11-of-21 for 185 yards with two touchdowns and one interception. QB2
Bobby Croyle stepped in to complete 6-of-8 for 48 yards, with his longest going for 33 yards to an open
Warren Griffith, who finished with two receptions for 35 yards. Howes caught a game-high seven passes for 141 yards with two touchdowns as the receiving corps caught 18 passes for 233 yards.
The defense logged four sacks, with one each from Tim Pherson, Jr.,
Galen Limantour,
Josh Buck, and
Garrett Carter. Limantour and
Cameron Noble were each responsible for two tackles for loss, with Buck down for 1.5 tackles for loss. Green's pick-six served as Susquehanna's lone takeaway of the day as he administered a pair of tackles.
The River Hawks had 29 first downs, converting on 6-of-10 third down conversions and 1-of-1 fourth down conversion. They finished with 514 total yards on 69 plays, totaling 36:52 of possession time. Susquehanna punched it on four times on its five trips to the red zone, with the defense not allowing their opponents inside their 20 for the second straight week.
Homecoming awaits Susquehanna next weekend as they welcome Wilkes to Amos Alonzo Stagg Field at Doug Arthur Stadium on Saturday, Oct. 21 at 1 p.m. It will be the first matchup between both teams as conference foes since 2006.
