SELINSGROVE, PA - Susquehanna University football executed an all-out attack on local Landmark rival Lycoming Saturday afternoon, scoring the first 62 points in a 69-7 victory. The River Hawks retained the Stagg Hat Trophy for the eighth straight year in the 60th iteration of the rivalry game with the Warriors, while most importantly starting their Landmark season at 1-0 with a 3-2 overall record.
HOW IT WENT DOWN
- Susquehanna 3, Lycoming 0 - Kicker/punter Dominic Bourgeois kept up his great work on the special teams with his fifth made field goal in as many tries this season to give the River Hawks the early lead.
- Susquehanna 10, Lycoming 0 - Lyco's opening drive was stymied with a three-and-out. Starting at its own 48, Susquehanna took advantage of the short field with a series of key plays, capped off with a one-yard touchdown run by Rahshan La Mons as the River Hawks led by ten at the end of the first quarter.
- Susquehanna 17, Lycoming 0 - Susquehanna began the second quarter with the ball and made it three-for-three on scoring drives. It was deja vu in a way as La Mons again scored from one yard out.
- Susquehanna 24, Lycoming, 0 - While Lycoming got perhaps its biggest play of the game with a 27-yard completion, SU's defense remained vigilant and shut them down again on third down near midfield. Susquehanna started its drive on its own 18. While a Warriors offsides penalty on the opening play gave the River Hawks a five-yard buffer, they took care of the rest as quarterback Josh Ehrlich led a prolific drive with key passes down the field, finished off with him finding receiver Daniel Growney out in the flat, who made an impressive one-handed catch and turned it up the sideline for the 11-yard touchdown reception and a 24-point lead.
- Susquehanna 31, Lycoming 0 - The River Hawks added points off turnovers to their stat sheet with their next touchdown drive that began thanks to an Xavier Maple interception. Starting at Lyco's 41 yard line, Ehrlich comfortably found the open tight end Michael Robbins for 37 yards. One play later, Ehrlich connected with receiver Frankie Mroz through a tight window in the middle of the endzone for a three-yard touchdown.
- Susquehanna 38, Lycoming 0 - Susquehanna's 35-point second quarter kept chugging along with a 79-yard scoring drive. Once again Ehrlich found open receivers for big gains and La Mons finding similar openings on the ground, which was capped off with Ehrlich running in a seven-yarder on a keeper.
- Susquehanna 45, Lycoming 0 - The Warriors got the ball back with just under one minute left in the first half at their own 21. The River Hawks' big quarter ended with a bang as Maple again came up with an interception on a deep pass that set SU up at its own 39 with 44 seconds left. The opening play saw Ehrlich connect with receiver Hunter Morgenroth for 24 yards, with another 15 being tacked on for roughing the passer. The drive ended with another Ehrlich touchdown pass, this time to Robert Stolfa for 11 yards and a comfortable 45-0 halftime lead.
- Susquehanna 48, Lycoming 0 - Lycoming received to start the second half. A positive drive faced the Warriors with a 4th and 9 at SU's 26. Opting to go for it, a deep shot inside the ten turned up empty, turning the ball over on downs to Susquehanna. The River Hawks again moved the ball into the red zone, with Bourgeois tacking on three more points to the team's lead.
- Susquehanna 55, Lycoming 0 - The River Hawks defense kept the dial up with another interception. In this case it was Kayvon Waters who returned it 42 yards up to Lyco's 45. Backup quarterback Tommy Wright entered the game and picked up where Ehrlich left off, finding receiver Reese Gaughan for a 24-yard touchdown to make it a 55-point game through three quarters.
- Susquehanna 62, Lycoming 0 - Lycoming suffered another three-and-out, leading to another Susquehanna scoring drive. Running back Tommy Grabowski saw his first game action since Week 1 against Union and celebrated with a ten-yard touchdown run.
- Susquehanna 62, Lycoming 7 - The Warriors' only points of the afternoon came on defense. A handoff to Drew Hutchins was blown up by JayVon story, forcing a fumble and scooped up by Ryder Bowen for a 36-yard fumble recover for a touchdown.
- Susquehanna 69, Lycoming 7 - Susquehanna's offense redeemed itself on its ensuing and final possession of the afternoon. Led by quarterback Sam McCracken, running back Hutchins, and receiver Daniel Francis, each of them carried out key plays that set up McCracken with a nine-yard touchdown run for the final points of the day and the largest margin of victory ever in Susquehanna and Lycoming's Stagg Hat Trophy Game.
INSIDE THE BOX SCORE
- Outside of the fumble recovery for a touchdown, the offense played a mistake-free game, racking up 40 first downs to Lyco's nine and combining for 656 yards between 404 yards passing and 252 yards on the ground. The Warriors were held to just 171 yards all afternoon between 108 yards passing and 63 on the ground. The River Hawks converted on 8-of-12 third downs to Lycoming's 3-of-13.
- Ehrlich completed 25-of-32 passes for 279 yards and three touchdown passes, along with one touchdown run where he carried the ball ten times for 53 yards. Wright completed 4-of-6 for 91 yards and one touchdown, while McCracken went a perfect 4-for-4 for 34 yards and his rushing TD profiling his three carries for 20 yards.
- La Mons carried the ball nine times for a game-high 84 yards and two touchdowns, while catching four passes for 23 yards.
- 15 River Hawks caught passes Saturday, with Carter McCauley leading in receiving yards with 69 on three catches. Kolten Kqira was nearby with 67 yards on three receptions. Growney's touchdown reception highlighted a team-best five catches for 45 yards, while Surtz caught as many passes for 43 yards.
- Maple's two-interception day marked the first picks of his career, as well as Waters' second straight game with an INT. These accounted for all of the defense's takeaways on the day.
- Linebacker Luke Hughes led the defense with five total tackles, including two solo, while Galen Limantour, Berkeley Wagner, and Steven Seibert each had three solo tackles. Jesse Ruisch had three total tackles with two solo. Limantour had one tackle for loss, as well as Robby Garvey and Kaeleb Fees.
- Bourgeois' two field goals Saturday makes him a perfect 6-for-6 on field goals this season, while going 9-for-9 on PATs to make it 25-of-26 on the year. The River Hawks didn't punt all day as Bourgois kicked off nine times, averaging 59.8 yards. Chris DeGroote kicked off twice averaging 56.5 yards, while Cohen Hoover had the last kickoff.
- Ehrlich's 54 career passing touchdowns ranks fourth all-time and puts him three away from third all-time held by Nick Crusco's 57 touchdowns from 2014-17.
UP NEXT FOR THE RIVER HAWKS
- Susquehanna has another Landmark game and another trophy to defend next Saturday traveling to Juniata for a 1 p.m. kickoff in the annual Goal Post Trophy Game. The River Hawks have won the last nine meetings with Juniata.
