The Yellowjackets defeated Gettysburg College this past weekend, 54-42, in an offensive battle that featured a combined 981 yards of total offense from both teams. It was UR’s second win in the first three games of the season, pushing their record above the .500 mark.
The ‘Jackets came out on top, thanks in large part to the strong arm of freshman quarterback Kapps Killingstad and the fast legs of junior running back Matt Bielecki. It was Killingstad’s first career start and any pre-game jitters he had quickly disappeared on the first play of the game.
Killingstad, starting on the 50-yard line thanks to a great kick return by sophomore Mike Sondericker, needed just one play to get the ‘Jackets on the scoreboard. The freshman heaved a 50 yard bomb to junior wide receiver Jay Jay Vanderstyne to give UR the early lead. It would be the first of two touchdown hookups between the duo in the game.
The quarterback also connected with senior tight end Pat McCarthy and Sondericker, tying a school record with four touchdown passes in one game. Three of those scores were long passes going for 50, 45 and 45 yards, respectively.
At the beginning of the second quarter, the UR defense got in on the scoring when junior defensive back Jim Milks intercepted a Gettysburg pass and returned it 52 yards for the second score of the game. It was the second touchdown scored by the Rochester defense this season.
Gettysburg countered with a touchdown of their own, making the score 14-7. Bielecki then took matters into his own hands.
After shaking several would-be tacklers, he broke free on the left side of the field and outran the defense for a 56 yard score. The junior accounted for nearly half of the team’s total yardage output for the contest. He finished the game with a whopping 215 yards on 27 carries and scored two touchdowns.
Following the big plays from Milks and Bielecki, Gettysburg found some momentum and started to string together a couple scoring drives of their own. They went into halftime with a 21-20 lead over Rochester.
The third quarter didn’t start well for the Yellowjackets either, as Gettysburg marched down the field with a seven play, 81- yard scoring drive which extended their lead to 28-20.
The ‘Jackets turned to their workhorse running back again on the next drive, handing the ball off to Bielecki ten times. Killingstad capped the drive off with a one yard touchdown pass to McCarthy.
The flood gates opened for the rest of the third quarter and all of the fourth quarter as both teams put up ridiculous numbers on the offensive side of the ball. Killingstad threw two 45-yard bombs, one to Vanderstyne and the other to Sondericker, to give UR the lead once again.
Vanderstyne finished the game with two touchdowns and 103 receiving yards, the first time in his career he topped the century mark in a game.
Bielecki also chipped in with his second touchdown run of the game and junior wide receiver Mike Freeman got his first career touchdown off a 28-yard pass from senior quarterback Aaron Molisani.
Although the defense gave up 42 points, there were some bright spots. Milks led the UR defense in tackles for the third straight game. He finished the game with eight and brought his team leading total to 23.5 tackles for the season.
Senior linebacker Jason Goeller had one sack in the game and leads the team in that category with four sacks on the year.
The Yellowjackets (2-1) will try to go for two wins in a row next week at Union College (1-1). Kickoff is set for 1 p.m.
Brackney can be reached at tbrackney@campustimes.org.
