WESTMINSTER, Md. - For the first time since 2009 the Dickinson football team has put together a five-game winning streak as they racked up 476 yards of total offense and forced three turnovers en route to a convincing 40-20 Centennial Conference win over the host McDaniel College at Gill Stadium.
After the Dickinson defense forced a three-and-out on the opening drive of the game a 19-yard punt by Aaron Gale gave the visitors the ball at the MC47. A rush of five yards for
Diante Ball and a 28-yard strike from
Presley Egbers to
Princeton Douglass moved the rock to the MC20. That was when Egbers decided to do it on his own as he raced all the way to the endzone for the 7-0 lead (
Justin Worobel kick) inside the five minute mark. A three-headed rushing attack of Trent Gaskins, Angel Granado and Logan Marsh moved the Green Terror from the MC25 to midfield. That would be where the drive would come to a halt as Granado was picked off by CC Defensive Player of the Week
James Basilii who ran 51 yards down to the MC19. From there it took DC just three plays to add to their lead as passes from Egbers to
Matt Maiona and Douglass set the stage for Egbers to run it home from five out extending the margin to 13-0 (conversion failed). Another solid defensive stand for the Devils gave it back to the DC offense on the DC19 with 2:05 left. After a three-yard rush for Douglass, Ball took off from the backfield on the next play and scampered 78 yards for a touchdown pushing it out to 20-0 through one (
Justin Worobel kick).
McDaniel would advance out to midfield on the first drive of the second, but went no further when
Lewis Baer knocked the rock loose from Granado and
Neville Krueger corralled it at the DC43. After a Maiona punt down to the MC12, the home side used five runs and an 18-yard pass from Granado to Marsh to get down to DC40. Gaskins and Granado continued to push the drive deeper into DC territory setting up a fourth-and-eleven on the DC14. Granado looked downfield for Sean Carter, but it was broken up by
Andrew Reale to end a 15-play drive with no points. However, McDaniel would not go into the break scoreless as a interception of Egbers gave them the ball at the DC28 inside the final two minutes. A rush by Granado for 11 yards, was followed by carries of 16 and one for Gaskins to put the ball into the endzone making it 20-7 (Aaron Gale kick) at halftime.
Dickinson took the ball to begin the second-half and needed just two plays for Egbers to find Ball for an 85-yard TD strike stretching the lead to 27-7 (
Justin Worobel kick). The Devils defense continued to lockdown the Green Terror offense as they forced another three-and-out giving the rock back to Egbers on the DC36. After a one-yard pass to Douglass, Ball to the handoff on the ensuing play and hustled 63-yards to paydirt and the 33-7 advantage (
Justin Worobel kick). Following the kickoff by
Kieran O'Neill, the home side needed one play for Granado to hit Marsh for an 80-yard TD trimming it to 33-14 (Aaron Gale kick). The next drive for each team went by without points which gave the rock back to the Devils with 3:52 remaining. Egbers would hook-up with Ball for 19 and
Devlin McCool for 41 to get down to the MC14. That was when the quarterback did it himself for the third time on the afternoon as he ran in from 14-yards out to push the lead to 40-14 (
Justin Worobel kick) through three quarters.
McDaniel began the fourth with the rock and used a solid rushing attack to get on the plus-side of the 50, before Granado put the ball in the arms of
Alex Sulin to give it back to the Red and White on the DC37.
Rocco DiRico then took over under center and handed the ball off to
Noah Boyd seven times and hit
Keesean Campbell for one pass to the MC42. That was where Dickinson faced a fourth down and with the rain and the wet ball it sailed over the head of the quarterback and resulted in a loss of 40 yards back to the DC18. Fortunately, for the visitors it did not result in any points as four consecutive incompletions from Granado gave it back to the Devils. Four carries from
Adam Smith, one rush by DiRico and a 10-yard reception by
Calder Shanks had it down to the MC47, but the drive would stall there on a failed fourth down attempt. McDaniel had it back with just 34-seconds left and opted not to take a knee as a pass to Hunter Sigler for 18 yards (DC38), led to Granado finding Gaskins for a 38-yard TD on the final play of the game for the 40-20 final.
Defensively, Dickinson was led by
Bram Leys who recorded a team-high eight tackles (five solo), while
Sam Orzolek added seven hits (one for loss). The duo of
Brendan Walker and Baer combined for a dozen tackles, 2.5 tackles for loss, one forced fumble and one pass breakup.
John Prochniak, Krueger and Sulin joined up for 15 tackles (3.5 for loss), one interception and a single pass breakup.
Next on the Field
Dickinson (5-1, 3-0 Centennial) will look to build on their fantastic season next Saturday when they welcome nationally-ranked Muhlenberg College to Biddle Field a Centennial Conference clash beginning at 1pm.
