As the stands emptied and Seniors got emotional on the field following their final home game at Warrior Stadium, Coach Jake Johnson stated how proud he was of his guys before lining up for a picture with his Seniors.
“These guys are the foundation; it’s a big deal. I’ve coached some of these kids for a long time. We can’t have asked for a better senior class than this.”
Gettysburg came up short on a chilly Senior Night at Warrior Stadium, losing to Palmyra 35-10. The Warriors were playing short-handed as quarterback Grant Johnson was sidelined with a lower body injury. Freshman Hunter Harlacher took the reigns and led his team to a 10-7 halftime lead; two Palmyra fumbles stifled their scoring opportunities. After a scoreless first quarter, Max Rawlings started the scoring with a successful field goal. The Cougars answered with a Roman Russek rushing touchdown to make the score 7-3 with 45 ticks left on the clock before halftime.
Prepared to go into halftime with a short deficit and a defensive battle on their hands, Warrior superstar, running back Junior Trevor Cunningham, decided to make it a Gettysburg lead going into halftime. He received the kickoff, made one cut to his left, and darted down the home sideline for the leading score. Cunningham is on the verge of the 1,000 yd mark, he’s looking to eclipse that milestone this Friday at Mifflin County.
The second half was unfortunately all Palmyra. The Cougars scored 4 rushing touchdowns, including three in the fourth quarter to solidify their win over the Warriors; 35-10.
The week prior, the Gettysburg Warriors showed incredible mental toughness to overcome two devastating 4th quarter road losses, including a tough double OT thriller against Red Land, and bounced back with an impressive 33-13 win over the Shippensburg Greyhounds.
“We train this mentality, 1-0, next rep, on to the next play.” Said Coach Johnson.
In that game, Warriors had the game in their control all 1st half as they went to the locker room up 21-7, thanks to Grant Johnson and Trevor Cunningham’s efforts. Both Junior standouts finished the game with over 200 combined rushing yards. Johnson had a tough night through the air, throwing three interceptions to the Greyhounds. The 3rd pick was where the tides turned against the Warriors. After driving the field and facing 3rd and goal, Johnson threw an errant pass right to senior linebacker Mark Carothers and we weaved his way across the field and down the sideline for a 95-yd touchdown. Lesser teams would fold under that swift swing of momentum, but this Warrior team has been rebuilt differently.
On the ensuing kickoff, Donte Howard almost took it back himself to regain control of the game, but he was tackled on the opposing 15 yd line. Grant Johnson redeemed his previous mistake with a 15-yd keeper for 6 to make it 27-13 with 3:21 left in the 3rd. A vital goal line stand to start the fourth stanza gave the Warriors all the confidence and swagger needed to finish off their opponents. Another Warrior rushing touchdown by Sophomore Reid Whitmoyer made the final 33-13.
The Warriors are on the outside looking-in for the Class 5A district playoffs and will need to win next week against Mifflin County (2-7) and get some extra help from other district teams to continue their season.
“All we can control is what’s in front of us.”
Coach Johnson took over this team in July and reshaped them in a short 3-month span. Filling the big shoes of coach Haines is no small task, but he has done just that. From reshaping the defensive unit, not just from last season to this season, but even from two weeks ago to Friday night, to reinvigorating an offense with a balanced run/pass approach. Coach Johnson has proven that he is a perfect fit for this Warrior team moving forward.
As the lights shut off on another Gettysburg Warriors home football season, rest assured that coach Jake Johnson and his energetic staff will be tenacious in their preparation for, not just next season, but for seasons to come in making Gettysburg Football a force to be reckon with. A great class of rising Seniors will make this team an early 2027 favorite in the Mid-Penn.
