Gayle puts Gettysburg off to the races vs. Susquehannock
Susquehannock won the coin toss and deferred, and Gettysburg's Wesley Gayle made the Warriors pay for it by returning the opening kickoff 95 yards for a touchdown.
The Adams County Warriors were off and running, and they handed York County's Warriors a 41-3 decision in YAIAA Division II football action Friday night at Warrior Stadium in Gettysburg.
"Adam Hedgeland has a good leg and we thought that he'd get a touchback there. The wind had been blowing that way, but it died and the ball didn't reach the end zone," Susquehannock head coach Steve Wiles said. "That certainly didn't cost us the game, but it set the tone for them. They're bigger and more athletic and I knew this would be a tough matchup for us when I watched film of them."
Gayle's opening kickoff return comes a week after he returned the opening kick 78 yards to set up Gettysburg's first touchdown in its 21-19 win against Dover in Week 4.
"We know it's a four-quarter game, but we wanted to get off to a quick start," Gayle said. "I saw green and ran towards it."
"I'm proud of our special teams," Gettysburg head coach Matt Heiser said. "They work hard on it in practice and they do a great job. Wesley has done well returning kicks for us."
Susquehannock (1-4, 0-1) responded with its only scoring drive of the game. Hedgeland capped the drive with a 38-yard field goal at the 7:01 mark of the opening stanza.
Gettysburg (3-2, 2-0) scored touchdowns on all three of its first-half possessions, putting together 10-play drives on each.
Gayle darted in from 7 yards out on a pitch out with 2:33 left in the first quarter, then Edny Celius' 14-yard scoring run off a misdirection run early in the second quarter bumped the lead to 20-3. And finally, Laion Shelton hauled in an 11-yard touchdown pass from Josh Clapsaddle — his only completion of the game — with 2:32 left in the half.
Scoring runs from Ferrious Ashford (2 yards) and Brady Buckley (1 yard) in the fourth quarter finished out the scoring.
The hosts were led offensively by Celius' 148 yards rushing on 23 carries. Gayle (63 yards), Ashford (46 yards) and Bryce Newman (45 yards) all made significant contributions to a rushing attack that piled up 343 yards on 52 rushes.
"We're fortunate with Edny, Wesley, Ferrious and Bryce all doing a good job of carrying the ball for us," Heiser said. "It allows us to mix things up and not overuse any of them."
Both teams have home games in Week 6. Susquehannock hosts York Suburban, and Gettysburg welcomes Eastern York on Friday at 7 p.m.
Susquehannock _3_0_0_0 - _3
Gettysburg _14_13_0_14 - _41
First Quarter
Get - Wesley Gayle 95 kickoff return (Jake Bridel kick), 11:47
Sus - Adam Hedgeland 38 field goal, 7:01
Get - Gayle 7 run (Bridel kick), 2:33
Second Quarter
Get - Edny Celius 14 run (kick blocked), 8:53
Get - Laion Shelton 11 pass from Josh Clapsaddle (Bridel kick), 2:32
Fourth Quarter
Get - Ferrious Ashford 2 run (Bridel kick), 9:20
Get - Brady Buckley 1 run (Bridel kick), 5:46
Team Statistics
_Sus_Get
First Downs _8_21
Rushes-Yards _30-78 _52-343
Passing _6-16-1_1-2-0
Passing Yards _46_11
Total Yards _124_352
Fumbles-Lost _4-1_1-1
Punts _2-30.5_0-0.0
Penalties _4-20_5-41
Individual Statistics
Rushing - Susquehannock, Jack Allred 13-64, Ben Trego 3-12, Kyle Orndorff 2-11, Alec Kramer 3-9, Garrett Mathena 1-(-1), Chase Summers 8-(-17). Gettysburg, Celius 23-148, Gayle 11-63, Ashford 5-46, Bryce Newman 6-45, Basti Coanoizado 2-23, Haiden Milhimes 3-14, Chad Auchey 1-3, Buckley 1-1.
Passing - Susquehannock, Summers 6-16-46-1. Gettysburg, Clapsaddle 1-2-11-0.
Receiving - Susquehannock, Ethan Schammel 2-25, Kramer 2-4, Chris Norris 1-9, Orndorff 1-8. Gettysburg, Shelton 1-11.