Photo by Theodore Wolfe
By Ryan Brinker
SELINSGROVE — Kyle Howes totaled 188 kick return yards and two touchdowns as he helped lead the Susquehanna Riverhawks to a 39-36 victory on Saturday over the Franklin & Marshall Diplomats.
At halftime, the Riverhawks found themselves with a comfortable lead, 32-7. Logan Clouse would enter the game for the Diplomats and give them a much-needed spark, leading them on a 70-yard touchdown drive that included a 22-yard run by the signal caller to convert a key fourth down.
Kyle Howes responded with his second kick return of the game for 93-yards, extending the lead to 39-13 Riverhawks in the third quarter.
Earlier in the game, Kyle Howe’s 95-yard kick return in the first quarter gave the Riverhawks an early 7-0 lead and tied a record for the longest kick-off return in school history.
“At the end of the day, I put others before me,” Howes said regarding his two kickoff returns in the game. “I don’t care about my individual stats,” he added.
After a quick Diplomats three and out, Negrini scored the second touchdown of the game for the Riverhawks as he carried the ball up the middle for a one-yard touchdown to make it 13-0.
Eddie Nugent carried the ball on the two-point conversion for the Riverhawks to make it 15-0.
Jake Fant answered with a touchdown of his own as he connected with Trey Glass for a 38-yard touchdown as he was getting hit to make it 15-7 Riverhawks.
Justin Gerhart would get the first turnover of the game for the Diplomats as he picked off a Michael Ruish pass to give his team the ball at the 34-yard line. The Riverhawks defense got a big stop and forced the Diplomats to punt.
Ruisch completed a clutch pass to Hershey Rowan on fourth down for six yards which led to a 35-yard field goal by Elijah Hoffman to make it 18-7 Riverhawks.
After a failed drive by the Diplomats, Nugent got the ball on a jet sweep and threw it to Ruisch for his first career touchdown pass to make it 25-7 Riverhawks.
Nugent said “to get that opportunity to throw it to [Ruisch] who is always throwing it around, it was his first one too. It was a really cool moment,” when asked about his touchdown pass.
Following a turnover on downs by the Diplomats, Bryce Ellinger took a screen pass from Ruisch and found the endzone to make it 32-7 Riverhawks with 1:41 to go in the half.
Gerhart would pick up his second interception of the game on a failed screen pass and returned it for a touchdown as he cut the lead to just 19 points in the third quarter.
Gerhart later earned himself the hat trick as he totaled three interceptions, three solo tackles, and one assisted tackle in the game for the Diplomats.
After a Diplomats turnover on downs, Ruisch would throw his fourth interception of the game as his pass went off of the hands of Michael Lefever and was caught by Dante Medlar to give the Diplomats the ball at midfield.
Lawrence Miller got the Diplomats a little bit closer as he converted a 30-yard field goal attempt to make it 39-23 Riverhawks.
Following a Susquehanna punt, Mitch Wagner carried the ball for the Diplomats, scoring a 13-yard touchdown to make it 39-29 Riverhawks.
Wagner received the ball again on a toss on the two-point conversion attempt but was stopped short of the endzone by the Riverhawks’ defense keeping the score at 39-29 Riverhawks.
Jacob Hille forced a fumble by Frankie Negrini for the Diplomats, giving them the ball at their 44-yard line.
Sutton grabbed the touchdown pass from Clouse in the corner of the endzone for the Diplomats, making it 39-36 with 1:00 to go.
The Diplomats’ onside kick attempt was unsuccessful as the Riverhawks went into victory formation up 39-36, despite having five turnovers in the game and only scoring a single touchdown on special teams in the second half.
When asked about what went wrong in the second half, Coach Perkovich said : “[We] can’t turn it over four times. Especially when you got a chance to end the game.”
The Riverhawks, now ranked No. 23 in the latest polls, moved to 2-0 on the young season as they are preparing to face Moravian next week at home and the Diplomats move to 1-1 as they face McDaniel next week on the road.
