WASHINGTON, D.C. - The tenth-ranked Susquehanna University football team executed their game plan to near perfection in Saturday's Landmark Conference opener at Catholic, scoring the first 35 points of the game as the River Hawks cruised to a 48-14 victory over the Cardinals to begin their conference season at 1-0 and 4-1 overall. The offense went 5-for-5 on their opening drives for touchdowns, secured by the continued on-point performances from playmakers such as quarterback Josh Ehrlich, wide receiver Kyle Howes, and rookie running back Rahshan La Mons.

Ehrlich put the ball in the air 25 times, connecting on 19 of them for 294 yards and tying a career-high with four touchdown passes and just one interception. Howes led the team with 82 yards receiving on three catches for two touchdowns. The two connected for the game's first score as on SU's opening drive Ehrlich found Howes for a 33-yard score to cap off a swift five-play, 79-yard drive. More was to come from Ehrlich, who finished second to La Mons on the ground Saturday netting 63 yards on 11 rushes. Ehrlich's feet got the team's next touchdown, running it in from seven yards out. On their next drive the game's third touchdown was nearly identical to the first, with just one yard separating this touchdown pass between Ehrlich and Howes from 32 yards out on the first play of the second quarter to open up a 21-0 lead. The defense was just as superb in the opening stretch, turning away the Cardinals and their air attack with four three-and-outs in the first half. Catholic's ground game never got off the ground, gaining only 32 yards on 19 carries for an average of 1.7 yards per carry.

Fellow wideout Chris Bookter was Ehrlich's next touchdown target, hitting him for a nine-yard pass to complete a ten-play, 84-yard drive for a 28-0 lead with 5:55 remaining in the first half. Following a brief Catholic drive that went three-and-out and just 1:01 chewed off the clock, the Cardinals punted it away from their own 14 that only reached their own 44 yard line. One play was all that Susquehanna needed to take a five-touchdown lead. On their first play of the drive, Ehrlich hit La Mons at the 30 yard line, which the running back took the distance for his eighth touchdown of the season and a 35-0 advantage. CUA was finally able to reach the endzone late in the first half as quarterback Malachi Hansen threw a 13-yard touchdown pass to John Whelan to cut into Susquehanna's lead before halftime, 35-7. 

The River Hawks got the ball to begin the second half and got right back to work. They returned to the running game to find their next touchdown, carried out by none other than La Mons on a two-yard run to finish off an 11-play, 66-yard drive and build a 41-7 lead. Ehrlich again provided another touchdown to close out the team's scoring, taking one in on a six-yard rush late in the third quarter to go up, 48-7. The fourth quarter lent itself to just one touchdown, coming on Catholic's Omari Owes' six-yard touchdown reception from John Whelan. 

Susquehanna once again won the time of possession battle, logging 35:44 of ball time to Catholic's 24:16. This resulted in the offense snapping the ball for 76 plays that yielded 589 yards of total offense, split between 322 passing yards and 267 rushing yards. Backup quarterback Tommy Wright came on in relief of Ehrlich, completing three passes for 28 yards. La Mons led with 120 rushing yards on 14 carries for an average of 8.6 yards per touch with one rushing TD, while catching six passes for 80 yards and one touchdown reception. Next on the receptions board for SU was receiver Hunter Morgenroth, who caught four passes for 60 yards, including a 42-yard reception on the team's opening drive to convert a third and 12 from deep in their own end. Bookter's one other reception on the day was a 34-yard completion as he finished with 43 yards receiving on two catches. 

While neither side turned the ball over, the River Hawks on defense combined for three sacks, carried out by two from Galen Limantour and half a sack each from Sergio Cabrera and Bailey Blaschak. Linebacker Garrett Carter again was the team's tackles leader with six, including two solo, while Luke Hughes had four solo tackles and five total. Safety Dominic Winn got in for four tackles, including a pair of solos with one breakup. CUA quarterback Whalen managed to complete 13-of-20 through the air for 203 yards and two touchdowns, with Cardinals receiver Sam Cornacchione catching three passes for 101 yards to lead all receivers, bolstered by a 79-yard reception that helped set up the team's late touchdown in the fourth quarter. CUA backup quarterback Joey Gulbin added 31 yards passing on six completions on 12 attempts, while running back Daequan Harvin was limited to 18 yards on eight carries, an average of 2.3 yards per carry. Kicker/punter for the Hawks Christian Colasurdo was 6-for-7 on extra point tries, while punting three balls for 134 yards, an average of 44.7 yards, including a long of 64 yards and two of his boots landing inside the twenty. On kickoffs Dominic Bourgeois sent five balls sailing for 309 yards with thee touchbacks for an average of 61.8. Brandon Shire kicked off the remaining three for 160 yards for a 53.3 average.

With the victory Susquehanna inches ever so closer to 500 all-time victories in the program's storied history with 497, along with keeping its all-time Landmark Conference record perfect, now at 7-0 since the league's football debut last season. More challenges lie ahead as #10 Susquehanna returns to Selinsgrove for a two-game Landmark homestand, starting with Keystone Saturday, Oct. 12 and then Juniata on Homecoming Saturday, Oct. 19 for the Goal Post Trophy. Both games kick off at 1 p.m.