Gettysburg tops New Oxford as sack, turnover turn the tide
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New Oxford held a two touchdown lead and had the ball midway through the second quarter when the turning point of the game arrived.
That's when Colonials quarterback Corban Czap was blindsided on a blitz, as the senior signal caller coughed up the ball and Gettysburg took over at New Oxford's 20-yard line.
The Warriors took advantage of the short field and scored. That pushed them on their way to a 21-14 victory in YAIAA football action Friday night in New Oxford.
Czap suffered a rib injury on the play and was unable to return. Sophomore John Wessel took his place under center.
Wessel played well in relief, but the change forced the Colonials to change up their play-calling.
"You gameplan all week with one guy and Corban is our guy," New Oxford head coach Jason Warner said. "Then for him to go down makes it tough. He's more of an option quarterback, while John is a drop-back passer."
Wessel went 7-of-16 for 122 yards through the air.
"John is a good kid and he's going to be a good quarterback, but it changed our playcalling dramatically."
Chet Brockett fell on Czap's fumble and three plays later the Warriors cut the lead in half on Tyler Wilt's 9-yard quarterback keeper with 5:50 left in the second quarter.
Wessel's first pass produced a 71-yard gain on a long pass to Tre Brown that put the hosts in business at the Gettysburg 13.
However, the Colonials failed to cash in on two opportunities in the final two minutes of the half with a pair of missed field goals.
Wilt tied the game for the Warriors with a 1-yard touchdown run with 8:36 left in the third quarter that capped a 38-yard drive.
Then in the fourth quarter, the Warriors took over at the Ox 38 again and took six plays to score. The team took the lead when Edny Celius took a pitch around the left end for a 5-yard score with 9:10 left in the game that came on fourth-and-1.
Gettysburg (1-1) had 10 possessions in the game and eight of them started in New Oxford territory.
"We're fortunate to have Tyson Sherman and (Marquise) Camel returning kicks and punts for us," Gettysburg head coach Matt Heiser said. "They do a good job of giving us good field position."
New Oxford (1-1) had a chance to tie the game late in the fourth quarter when Gettysburg turned the ball over on downs at the Colonials 30-yard line. A first down gave them the ball at their own 41, but the Warriors defense held on downs and ran the clock out.
Celius paced the Warriors with 81 yards rushing on 17 carries, while Wilt added 65 yards on 19 rushes.
"Edny was chomping at the bit to get a chance to start and we moved Khalil Hill over from tailback to fullback to give him the chance," Heiser said. "Edny ran it well, Khalil did a good job of lead blocking and the line played well, too."
Warner was pleased with the way his defense played despite being put in bad field position many times,
"Our defensive staff did a great job of gameplanning and the kids executed it well," he said. "We put ourselves in bad position a lot, but the defense stood strong and gave us a chance."
Brown scored both touchdowns for New Oxford on a 26-yard pass from Czap in the first quarter and a 16-yard run in the second quarter. He finished with four catches for 110 yards.
Gettysburg0777—21New Oxford7700—14
First Quarter
NO — Tre Brown 26 pass from Corban Czap (Luis Partida kick) 5:31
Second Quarter
NO — Brown 16 run (Partida kick) 11:50
Get — Tyler Wilt 9 run (Adam Yingling kick) 5:50
Third Quarter
Get — Wilt 1 run (Yingling kick) 8:36
Fourth Quarter
Get — Edny Celius 5 run (Yingling kick) 9:10
GetNOFirst Downs 11 13Rushes-Yards 44-162 32-119Passing 2-6-0 10-20-0Passing Yards 9 184Total Yards 171 303Fumbles-Lost 0-03-1Punts 3-28.3 2-27.0Penalties 3-40 9-55
Individual statistics
Rushing — Get, Celius 17-81, Wilt 19-63, Khalil Hill 5-22, Elijah Jackson 3-(-4). NO, Josh Shultz 14-74, Brown 3-37, Czap 4-5, Elijah Myers 6-4, Ferrious Ashford 1-0, John Wessel 4-(-1).
Passing — Get, Wilt 2-6-9-0. NO, Wessel 7-16-122-0, Czap 3-4-62-0.
Receiving — Get, Tyson Sherman 2-9. NO, Brown 4-110, Shane Rolle 4-55, Ashford 2-19.