SELINSGROVE, PA – The eighth and ninth-ranked Susquehanna University football team went straight for the record books Saturday when they hosted Landmark Conference opponent Keystone. The final score was a whopping 79-6, marking the most points scored by a Susquehanna football squad in the regular season since 1919. The River Hawks also piled up the second-most yardage in program history with 676 yards of total offense, with the only one above it being 724 yards on Juniata in 2003.

Saturday's 676 yards were split between 385 rushing yards and 291 through the air. Nearly every River Hawk that took the field played a part in the victory as quarterback Josh Ehrlich needed just 11 passing attempts to make a resounding mark, completing all of them for four touchdowns and 203 yards. First-year running back Rahshan La Mons had eight carries for 58 yards, though it was his return prowess this day that added to his lore, returning a pair of punts for touchdowns on a day where he netted 145 yards on three punt returns to bring his total touchdown number to 11 on the season. The offensive line deserves much of this credit as well, standing in there to collect a sack-free day as the offense averaged 10.4 yards per play on 64 plays, including 8.8 yards per rush on 43 carries.

Running back Matt Surtz led all rushers with 108 yards on the ground on eight carries, including a career-long 54-yard run that went for a touchdown. Two more rushing touchdowns were followed by D.K. Wyche and Drew Hutchins, their firsts of the season, while backup quarterback Tommy Wright had a touchdown strike of his own in a 5-for-10 day with 88 yards when he hit Robert Stolfa for the sophomore receiver's first career touchdown late in the third quarter. The defense joined in too on the scoring action as linebacker Jesse Ruisch ran back an interception return 22 yards when the heads-up coverage by cornerback Le'Trey Bond knocked the ball out of receiver Jayson Nami's hands to give the River Hawks a 20-0 lead near the end of the first quarter.

Susquehanna's opening drive appeared sluggish, facing third down and ten from their own 41. That set the stage for the first big play of the day as Ehrlich calmly hit Kyle Howes down the sideline for 35 yards, then on the next play the same combination found each other for 24 yards out to take a 7-0 lead. On Keystone's next drive the Giants hoped to set the River Hawks back deep in their own territory. While the punt made it to SU's 27, it wound up being La Mons' first of two punt return touchdowns on the day as he chose the middle lane to cut it up and give Susquehanna a 13-0 lead. Following Ruisch's pick-six, Ehrlich found his second scoring target of the day, hitting tight end Rowen Hershey, outworking the one-on-one coverage with a juggling touchdown catch for a 21-yard score to end the first quarter ahead 27-0.

No sooner did the second quarter start that Keystone was forced to punt. History repeated itself as punter Jeremiah Ortiz sent another one to La Mons, who this time ran it back from 72 yards out to make it 34-0. In the River Hawks' debut drive of the second quarter, Ehrlich once again looked to his tight ends for the score, this time Michael Robbins as he hauled in his first TD of the year for 18 yards and a 41-0 score going into halftime. Susquehanna got the ball to start the third quarter, needing just 44 seconds to execute its next scoring mission as Ehrlich put the exclamation point on his big day with a 56-yard touchdown pass to Chris Bookter.

Long story less long, the River Hawks posted the first 69 points of the game before the fourth quarter even started. This was made possible by Surtz's 54-yard scamper up the middle where he torched the KC secondary, followed by the sophomore running back Hutchins, who fought through two defenders and extended just enough of the ball to cross the goal line on a one-yard scoring rush, and then Wright's hookup with Stolfa. The Giants finally got a reprieve when backup quarterback Frankie Leyshon found receiver Stephen Tatum for a 25-yard touchdown pass, marking the first points Keystone has ever scored on Susquehanna in the modern era after suffering a 69-0 defeat to the River Hawks in last year's matchup in La Plume. Susquehanna's last ten points were reserved for Dominic Bourgeois, the River Hawks' regular kickoff specialist who got called on to convert a 24-yard field goal for the first of his career, then senior running back D.K. Wyche, who ran in a nine-yard score late in the game.

SU's defensive unit was responsible for two interceptions, with the one other coming from senior linebacker Josh Parson to negate what appeared to be a promising Keystone drive halfway through the second quarter. In all the Giants sent out three quarterbacks, with the River Hawks responding with three sacks, one each from Parson, Tim Pherson Jr., and Nick Campbell. Parson finished as the team's leading tackler with six, including three solo, while fellow upperclassman and safety Andrew Wells had five total tackles and four solo.

On special teams kicker/punter Christian Colasurdo took the day off from punting to focus on kicking, making 8-of-9 extra points, while Bourgeois came on to make 2-of-2 extra point tries to go with his 24-yarder. Bourgeois had eight kickoffs go for 517 yards for a 64.6 average and five touchbacks. Fellow kicker Brandon Shire kicked off five times for 290 yards and one touchback for a 58.0 average.

The 79 points are the most for a Tom Perkovich-led Susquehanna squad since the River Hawks handed Wilkes an 88-24 defeat on Nov. 23, 2019 in the Centennial-MAC Bowl Game. The two teams, now Landmark brethren, are due to rematch again in Wilkes-Barre, Pa. two weeks from now on Oct. 26 at 12 noon. Before then Susquehanna prepares to host Juniata on Saturday, Oct. 19 as part of Homecoming Weekend and the battle for the Goal Post Trophy, one that has stayed in Selinsgrove throughout Perkovich's tenure as head coach.