At Susquehanna, Parkland’s Ruisch continues to win
Michael Ruisch celebrated football wins across the area in two seasons as Parkland’s starting quarterback.
He has his eyes on one more victory in his final college visit to the Lehigh Valley.
With Ruisch playing the best football of his career, Susquehanna University has raced to an 8-0 overall record and 7-0 mark in the Centennial Conference. The River Hawks head into Saturday’s visit to Muhlenberg two wins away from a perfect regular-season record and the outright conference title.
The Mules are the one Centennial Conference team Ruisch has yet to defeat during his four-season tenure as Susquehanna’s starting quarterback. Muhlenberg won overtime games in 2018 and 2019, then blasted the River Hawks 52-27 last season (the teams didn’t meet in 2020, when the COVID19 pandemic canceled the season).
Last season’s loss to the Mules came as part of a disappointing end to the regular season for Ruisch and Susquehanna. The River Hawks opened 7-0 before suffering back-to-back lopsided losses to Johns Hopkins and Muhlenberg.
Susquehanna coach Tom Perkovich challenged his players in January to work to avoid a similar fate this season. The River Hawks have responded with their perfect start, which included a 26-24 win over a Johns Hopkins team that was ranked No. 6 in NCAA Division III heading into the game.
Ruisch threw for 204 yards and one touchdown against the Blue Jays. He also tied for the team lead with 33 rushing yards and ran for another score.
“It comes from a lot of things,” Ruisch said by phone Monday when discussing Susquehanna’s play to date. “We prepare all year for games like we had this weekend. The coaching staff does a great job preparing us for those games, the training staff, the weight-training staff. It’s just a culmination of a lot of working parts.”
Ruisch has been one of the primary parts working for Susquehanna. He ranks first among Centennial Conference quarterbacks in yards per pass attempt (9.1) and second in yards per game (248.9).
Ruisch has also completed 61.4% of his passes with 18 touchdowns and run for another 146 yards and three scores. Susquehanna is averaging 38.5 points per game.
“This has been a turning point season for him,” Perkovich said. “He’s put in so much work, offseason work, in season with the receivers, summer time, all that stuff that we asked of him to not have kind of the letdown we had a year ago.
“He’d be the first to tell you he just wasn’t playing well at the end of the season last year. So we worked as coaches to try to help him out with that, understand defenses better. But he’s played very well for us, managed our offense, which is not an easy one to do. We ask a lot at his position, and he’s done it. He’s played really well and played with grit.”
Ruisch and the River Hawks aren’t satisfied with their current position. A win over Muhlenberg would leave Susquehanna needing just one more victory, over winless Juniata, to complete a perfect regular season.
Nothing but a championship will suffice after last season’s late fade. Winning Saturday is the critical next step.
“It’s a big one for us,” Ruisch said. “We’ve had this circled on the calendar every single year. Coach is going to put together a great game plan. We’ve just got to go out there, execute it and stick together as a team.”
Here’s a look at this week’s games.
Kutztown(7-2 overall,5-1 PSAC East)
Up next: West Chester, noon Saturday.
Worth noting: Redshirt senior linebacker Tyler Whary (Upper Perkiomen) had four tackles and two of Kutztown’s season-high six sacks in last week’s win over Millersville. He also forced a fumble. … Redshirt junior defensive lineman Domenico Italiani (Bethlehem Catholic) recovered the fumble and had five tackles and one sack. … The Golden Bears have won five straight games.
East Stroudsburg (4 -5 overall, 3-3 PSAC East)
Up next: Shepherd, 1:05 p.m. Saturday.
Worth noting: ESU quarterback Jake Cirillo (East Stroudsburg South) recorded his 10th career rushing touchdown in Saturday’s win over Shippensburg. The 10 rushing TDs tie him with Penn State coach James Franklin for second all-time among Warriors quarterbackS. … Linebacker Jahan Worth (Parkland) had 12 tackles and 2.5 tackles for loss to help ESU beat Shippensburg for the first time since 2014. … The Warriors are plus-eight in turnover margin.
Muhlenberg (5 -3 overall, 5 -2 Centennial Conference)
Up next: Susquehanna, 1 p.m. Saturday.
Worth noting: Muhlenberg clinched a 12th straight winning record in the Centennial Conference with Saturday’s 28-21 comeback win against Franklin & Marshall. It was the Mules’ eighth straight home win. … Senior linebacker Owen Daddona (Bethlehem Catholic) registered 13 tackles and one tackle for loss. He leads the Mules with 64 total tackles and is tied for the team lead with 3.5 sacks.
Moravian (3 -5 overall, 3 -4 Centennial Conference)
Up next: at Franklin & Marshall, 1 p.m. Saturday.
Worth noting: Senior defensive
lineman Jack Gawlik (Freedom) registered a season-high eight tackles and had his fourth sack in Saturday’s 14-3 win over McDaniel. He has three sacks in his last four games. … Freshman defensive back Matt Capobianco (Nazareth) had his first career interception and a season-high four tackles against McDaniel. … The Greyhounds are seeking their first road win this season with Saturday’s trip to F & M. They are 0-5 away from home.