Dickinson football came up big on homecoming, overcoming McDaniel College for a narrow 13-10 victory at Biddle Field on Saturday, October 7.

A 50-yard punt return after the Red Devils’ first possession put the Green Terror on the Dickinson 23-yard ling but the defense stopped the drive, forcing a 34-yard field goal by McDaniel’s Spencer Wiersberg.

The Red Devils got on the board with an 8-yard touchdown run by Robert Geiss ’21 to make the score 7-3 with 6:47 left in the first quarter.

Dickinson’s lead stood until McDaniel scored a touchdown late in the third quarter to take a 10-7 lead into the fourth.

The Red Devils’ special teams and defense picked up the slack as a 60-yard punt by Connor Langan ’21 and an interception by Erik Dettloff ’18 prevented any offensive production by the Green Terror.

Geiss racked up four straight completions as the Red Devils drove 65 yards down the field before he connected with classmate Christopher Longo ’21 for an 11-yard touchdown, to give Dickinson a 13-10 lead after a missed extra point.

Dominic Fusco ’21 recovered a fumble on the ensuing kick-off as the Red Devil defense stopped McDaniel’s offense and Jeremy Walsh ’20 and classmate Sam Peck ’20 helped run out the clock on the offensive side to give Dickinson the win.

The Red Devil offense was led by Daniel Salamone ’20, who rushed for 39 yards and caught three passes for an additional 42 yards on the afternoon. Walsh racked up 67 yards on the ground while Geiss tallied 61 rushing and combined with Billy Burger ’19 for 103 total yards of passing for the Red Devils.

Tyler Heisey ’18 led Dickinson’s defense with 11 tackles while Fusco tallied nine, six of which were solo, in addition to his fumble recovery. Thomas Nocka ’19 recorded two sacks, driving McDaniel back 14 yards while Will Peck ’18 grabbed an interception and broke up two passes.

Will Koester threw for 132 yards and Matt Cathey ran for 60 yards for the Green Terror offense. Drew Scott tallied 10 tackles while Ray Doh tacked on two tackles-for-loss and one sack on the defensive side.

McDaniel falls to 3-3 overall and 2-3 in the Centennial Conference while Red Devils move to 2-4 overall and 2-3 in the Conference. Dickinson has a bye this weekend before travelling to Franklin & Marshall for the battle for the Conestoga Wagon on Saturday, Oct. 21, with kickoff scheduled for 1:30 p.m.