Photo Courtesy of Susquehanna Athletics
By Marquis Frias, Sports Editor
The Susquehanna Football team claimed their second win of the season after a 41-14 blowout win against Bridgewater on Saturday in Bridgewater, Va.
The River Hawks (2-0) would begin the game on defense, where they were able to force a punt on the Eagles’ (0-2) opening drive. Then on the first offensive play of the game for Susquehanna, senior running back Matt Surtz found and scored on a 47-yard touchdown run to open the scoring.
Susquehanna would get on the board again toward the end of the first quarter after a nine play, 56 yard drive that came to an end after Surtz found the endzone again. Surtz’s second touchdown, this time from 3 yards out, gave his team an early 14-0 lead.
But Surtz wasn’t done there, as after the River Hawks defense forced another Bridgewater punt, Surtz would score his third touchdown run, completing the hattrick halfway into the second quarter.
“It’s always important to get the running game going… allows us to control the clock while keeping our defense off the field, allowing them to rest,” Susquehanna Head Coach Chris Pincince said. “I thought that the kids up front did a wonderful job.”
Thanks to the efforts from the kids upfront, Susquehanna’s Offensive line earned D3football.com’s Team of the Week, a national award highlighting a position group’s performance. The five up front starting for Susquehanna on Saturday included Aidan Kelly, Liam Kelly, Josh Hill, Matt Liggio and Connor Main.
“Most of the time, the skill kids are getting those awards. The skill kids are getting the plaques and the banners and the pats on the back… so it’s good to see some national recognition and they did a great job on Saturday,” Pincince said.
With the River Hawks up 21-0, Susquehanna felt no need to keep the foot off the gas offensively, as senior quarterback Tommy Wright connected with sophomore wide receiver Carter McCauley for a 33 yard touchdown.
The score put Susquehanna up four touchdowns to Bridgewater’s zero, but that would change immediately after McCauley’s touchdown as Bridgewater’s Tommy Nelson ran the impending kickoff back for a 92-yard touchdown.
Bridgewater was able to head into the locker rooms with some momentum after the kickoff return for a touchdown, but the River Hawks remained with a big 28-7 lead as the game headed to intermission.
Following halftime, Susquehanna continued to dominate while Bridgewater tried to keep up. The River Hawks’ opening drive saw them march down the field, thanks to some long runs from Surtz.
Tommy Wright ended the drive after finding junior wide receiver Frankie Mroz for his first touchdown of the season, giving Susquehanna a 35-7 lead.
Bridgewater’s offense would finally put points on the board themselves later into the third quarter with sophomore wide receiver Brandon Anderson catching a 24-yard touchdown pass.
The River Hawks defense was all over the Eagles’ offense, as Susquehanna didn’t allow any points on Bridgewater’s first eight drives. The defense was led by the efforts of sophomore defensive lineman Amarch Drammeh as he recorded six total tackles, including three tackles for loss and added a sack.
“He’s part of the reason that I hope we can be successful from a defensive standpoint this year,” Pincince said. “I think it was a total team effort right there of keeping them off the board for the most part.”
Drammeh’s efforts earned him landmark conference defensive player of the week, where he joined Surtz who also took home landmark conference offensive player of the week after he recorded 19 rushes for 159 yards and three touchdowns.
Susquehanna put their final points on the board late into the third quarter after junior tight end Noah Confer caught his first touchdown of the season from 26 yards out. The failed PAT made the score 41-14, which the River Hawks were able to hold onto after some slow action in the fourth.
Wright finished his day completing 17 of his 25 passes, recording 208 passing yards and three passing touchdowns. On the receiving side, McCauley finished three receptions for 56 yards and a touchdown.
Susquehanna totaled 463 yards offensively while only allowing Bridgewater to put up 180 yards and one offensive touchdown.
The River Hawks now set their sights on Baltimore, M.D. for a matchup against Johns Hopkins University, the same team that ended Susquehanna’s season in the third round of the playoffs just a year ago.
“They have some extremely good defensive football players that are going to try to get us off the field, but it’s our job offensively to stay on the field and move the football,” Pincince said. “Defensively we got to find a way to turn the ball over. I think you saw that in the 1st week where we had some success.. But we got to do a great job of creating some turnovers.”
No. 24 ranked Susquehanna will take on No.13 ranked Johns Hopkins university Saturday, Sept 19 at 1 p.m.