Photo Courtesy of Sports Information
By Chris Vetrone, Staff Writer
Susquehanna earned a dominating road victory on Saturday, September 18 when they defeated the Moravian Greyhounds handedly 44-0 at Rocco Calvo Field. The River Hawks were led by a strong defensive performance.
The River Hawks’ offense started off hot with the first play of the game being a 32-yard connection from senior quarterback Michael Ruisch to sophomore wide receiver Eddie Nugent.
Ruisch passed to sophomore wide receiver Jacob Erb for four yards on the next play. Junior running back Frank Negrini got his day going when he rushed for three and four yards on back-to-back plays.
Ruisch then connected with senior wide receiver Samuel Darrell for five- and 11-yard plays on the next two plays of the drive. Negrini would finish the drive off with a three-yard run and then his five-yard touchdown run putting the River Hawks up 7-0.
The very next drive for the River Hawks would be all passing. Ruisch connected with four different receivers. Ruisch connected with Nugent twice for 24 yards. He threw the ball to Negrini and Darrell once for one yard. Ruisch connected with senior wide receiver Kyle Good twice for 18 yards and a touchdown, extending the lead to 14-0.
The next Susquehanna drive ended in a punt. Senior punter Clay Olley punted the ball 41 yards, and the returner took the ball up five yards when first year defensive back Naphtali Stine forced a fumble. Senior linebacker Benjamin Burkhardt recovered the fumble for Susquehanna.
“It was a good feeling knowing that the offense was going to be in good field position to score,” Stine said.
Susquehanna would capitalize on the turnover. Ruisch would connect with senior tight end Michael Lefever for a 22-yard touchdown, putting Susquehanna up 21-0.
“Our defense played great on Saturday, only on the field for 16 plays in the first half I believe. Those turnovers gave us great field position that we were able to capitalize on early,” Ruisch said.
Moravian would start their next drive with a four-yard rush by running back Nate Boyle when sophomore linebacker Drew Robinson would force a fumble which would be recovered by senior defensive lineman Riley Gaughan.
“It was great. Coach harps on us turning the ball over all the time and the team was able to do that last Saturday. It’s always great giving our offense the ball with a short field,” Robinson said.
Susquehanna would capitalize on the turnover with a 33-yard field goal by senior kicker Elijah Hoffman, pushing the lead to 24-0.
The next drive for Susquehanna was riddled with penalties for both sides. SU was penalized 3 times for 30 yards and Moravian was charged with three 15-yard penalties which allowed the offense to take control and set up Hoffman with a 37-yard field goal which he made, to make it 27-0.
It kept getting uglier for the Greyhounds when just three plays into their next drive, senior linebacker Craig Roumes would intercept Moravian quarterback Christopher Mills. The next Susquehanna drive was all Negrini after catching a 23-yard pass from Ruisch and rushing twice for eight yards and a touchdown, putting the River Hawks up 34-0 at halftime.
Susquehanna’s defense would come out of the locker room hot, forcing a three and out after a sack from senior linebacker Brendan Krumenacker on third down. The offense would score their last touchdown of the day after an eight play 44-yard drive.
Negrini rushed for 17-yards on three carries, while Ruisch connected with Darrell twice for 18 yards. Good caught a 2-yard touchdown pass from Ruisch two plays later, extending the lead 41-0.
Moravian fumbled for a third time on the day after a special team forced fumble was recovered by junior outside linebacker Keith Green. Hoffman put up his third field goal with a 25-yarder.
“It feels awesome after having to wait almost 2 years after the 2019 season to get off to a smooth start. A huge shoutout to my offense line for protecting me so well throughout the first 3 weeks.” Ruisch said.
Susquehanna returns home looking to go 4-0 when they take on Dickinson Saturday, September 25
