Photo Courtesy of Susquehanna Athletics/Brandon Love
By Matt Vargo
It was much tougher than expected, but for the second consecutive season the football team is Landmark Conference champions.
The River Hawks took down Moravian 49-34 with an explosive second half Saturday afternoon at Doug Arthur Stadium. Senior day festivities preceded the contest.
It took just 15 seconds for the River Hawks (8-1 overall, 5-0 Landmark) to grab the lead with a 55-yard touchdown run from Rahshan La Mons, but after that, most of the first half was rough for the orange and maroon.
The Greyhounds (5-3, 3-1) responded with 17-play, 79-yard touchdown drive that lasted over six minutes to make it 7-6 after their extra point attempt was blocked, but Susquehanna quarterback Josh Ehrlich threw an interception to Moravian cornerback Shea Endean on the team’s next possession, which the Greyhounds turned into another scoring drive capped by a 16-yard Diego Del Castillo touchdown catch on fourth down to make it 12-7 after a failed two-point attempt.
Susquehanna struck back with an eight-play, 70-yard touchdown drive that featured seven La Mons touches but ended with a Kyle Howes slant route that turned into a 42-yard touchdown to put the River Hawks back in front. The defense forced a three-and-out, but Susquehanna turned it over again on a Matt Surtz fumble that gave Moravian great field position again, which it turned into another touchdown and two-point conversion to make it 20-14 Greyhounds.
The River Hawks put together a promising drive on their final possession before halftime as they drove to the Moravian six-yard line, but Ehrlich threw his second interception of the half as Susquehanna trailed at the break for the first time all season.
“That was probably one of the worst halves of football we’ve ever played,” said left tackle Nick Gonzalez. “We didn’t play Susquehanna football, plain and simple. Drew Robinson put it bluntly in the locker room, so in the second half we did a better job of playing our brand of football.”
The team turned the corner in the second half. Susquehanna’s defense forced Moravian to punt to start, and the offense drove 50 yards for another touchdown to take the lead as La Mons punched it in from four yards out. The defense forced a turnover on the Greyhounds next drive, and the River Hawks this time drove 55 yards in seven plays with Ehrlich rushing for a 9-yard touchdown to finish it off.
Another defensive stop ensured Susquehanna led going into the fourth quarter 28-20. Early in the fourth, the offense scored again with La Mons scoring his third rushing touchdown of the day to make it 35-20. Moravian’s offense finally woke up with a nine-play, 63-yard touchdown drive and two-point conversion to make it a one-score game again, but the River Hawk offense quickly restored the lead with a three-play, 65-yard touchdown drive in just over a minute with Howes rushing it in from five yards out.
But again, the Greyhounds hung around with a touchdown drive as their quarterback Jared Jenkins threw his fifth touchdown pass of the day to make it 42-34, and then Surtz made up for his fumble from earlier with a 69-yard touchdown run to ice the game making it a 49-34 final score.
The River Hawks rushed for 284 yards as a team and both La Mons and Surtz each rushed for over 100 yards. La Mons totaled 171 yards rushing and three touchdowns on 27 attempts, and Surtz rushed for 101 yards and a touchdown on only five attempts.
“It’s great having both (La Mons and Surtz) running behind me,” Gonzalez said. “We had to dig deep into the playbook sometimes and bust out some different plays, but as a unit we just had to put our heads down and grind it out.”
It was an off day for the passing game as Ehrlich threw for just 183 yards, one touchdown, and two interceptions and Howes was the only receiver with over 50 yards as he caught three passes for 96 yards and a touchdown.
Defensively, linebacker Jesse Ruisch had a phenomenal day with 16 total tackles and three passes broken up, and defensive end Jake Schultes finished with six tackles and two sacks. In the secondary, Berkeley Wagner also had three passes broken up, four tackles, and one pivotal interception.
“The credit goes to our coaching staff,” Ruisch said. “They put us in positions to make plays and when you’re in the right spot, you just got to make the tackle. I did a good job of that today, but I can always be better.”
Susquehanna is on its way to the NCAA playoffs as the Landmark’s automatic qualifier. The team has their bye weeks next weekend and will return to the gridiron on Nov. 16 at Lycoming for the Stagg Hat Trophy Game.
“We’ve had a long season, and this bye week is crucial,” Ruisch said. “We’re going to rest a bit, try to get healthy since we have some injuries. But after that we’re going to go to Lycoming and approach it like any other game.”