Photo and Written By Abby MacMillan, Editor-in-Chief
A year ago today, the Susquehanna football team lost in the first round of the NCAA Dlll National Championships against Utica University, 17-10.
A year later, on Nov. 18, the Riverhawks are in the same spot. The Grove City College Wolverines overcame the Susquehanna Riverhawks 21-20 in the first round of the NCAA Dlll Football Playoffs.
With an evenly matched game, it came down to the last 40 seconds on who would be moving on to the second round.
The Wolverines started on their own 32-yard line and made their way down the field to end up at the Riverhawks’ 21-yard line.
In a no huddle-shotgun play, quarterback Logan Pfeuffer of Grove City connected with Scott Fraser to gain a first down on the Riverhawks’ 13-yard line.
The Riverhawk’s defense put up a fight with Grove City as they played to four downs. With 13 seconds on the clock and one team’s season on the line, Susquehanna called a timeout. Both teams made it back on the field to compete in what would be one of their final games.
Grove City’s Pfeuffer stunned the crowd as he found Ryan Lenhart in the endzone for a touchdown with seven seconds on the clock. All eyes were on Kuechly of Grove City as he kicked the game winning field goal.
And in under 40 seconds, the Riverhawks’ season was over.
When asked about losing the in the first round for a second year in a row, head coach Tom Perkovich said: “Yeah, it’s hard. I’d be lying if I said I’m not emotional about it. We work hard with these kids. My hats off to the players, our seniors, and coaches for working so hard to get back to this moment. And unfortunately, we are in the same spot that we were in 365 days ago.”
The Riverhawks end their season 10-1 record with 20 seniors graduating this season. Grove City College is scheduled to play SUNY Cortland at noon on Nov. 25 in Cortland, N.Y.
