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Week Two Game Notes: CUA (0-1) at F&M (1-0)
Saturday's Game: Catholic (0-1) at Franklin & Marshall
F&M Game Notes (Additional Content in PDF)
the vitals
Overall: CUA leads 7-2 | In the District: CUA 4-1 | In Lancaster:
CUA 3-1 | Streak: CUA +2
Two of the nation’s oldest football program’s square
off for the 10th time since 1930. Catholic holds a 7-2 edge on
Franklin & Marshall in a series that began in 1930 and then
went dormant for 67 years.
The first meeting was played in the nation’s capital on
October 4, 1930, and saw the Diplomats come away with a 22-7 win.
The teams reconvened in the same city on the same date in 1997,
with the Cardinals taking a 35-21 decision. That was the first of
six consecutive meetings surrounding the turn of the millennium.
Catholic won the first five of the six, before Franklin &
Marshall got its second win of the series in 2002. That season,
F&M put up a 13-6 win.
The Cardinals own the series only shutout, a 39-0 drubbing on
Sponaugle-Williamson in 2000. That was the largest margin of
victory in the series. The season prior, Catholic posted the most
points by a team in the series in a 46-12 win. The 58 combined
points also marked the highest scoring game. The teams average a
combined 40 points per game in their clashes.
the last meeting
Keith Ricca’s 63-yard touchdown pass to Miles
Sabrick was the difference as Catholic defeated Franklin &
Marshall 14-7. Sabrick’s 63-yard catch and run through
several Diplomat (1-1) defenders gave the Cardinals (2-0) the lead
for good early in the fourth quarter.
Ricca completed 13 passes for 154 yards and two touchdowns to lead
the Cardinals to the win. He hit Andrew Buis four times for 27
yards and Sabrick three times. Sabrick’s only gain of the day
was the touchdown.
catholic last week
Shenandoah quarterback Vern Lunsford threw a touchdown and ran for
another in a 21-3 victory over Catholic University at Cardinal
Stadium. The Hornets rushed for 213 yards on the CUA defense.
Lunsford, who finished 9-of-19 for 97 yards, hit Rico Wallace for a
26-yard TD in the second quarter and then ran in untouched on a
9-yard naked bootleg with 7:57 to go in the third to give the
Hornets (1-0) a 14-3 lead.
Making his first start, Cards’ sophomore Dylan Knight,
gained a team-high 60 yards rushing. He guided CUA’s only
scoring drive, resulting in a 27-yard field goal by Brendan Deluca
on the Cardinals’ opening possession. Alonzo Cooke caught six
passes for 52 yards and returned three kickoffs for 106 yards.
CUA’s Rich Barry rushed 12 times for 53 yards and freshman
linebacker Marc McEvoy produced a team-high 12 tackles.
f&m last week
John Harrison (Flourtown, Pa. / La Salle College
HS) rolled up 295 passing yards and found George
Eager (Lititz, Pa. / Manheim Twp.) for three touchdowns to
lead Franklin & Marshall (1-0) to a 29-27 win at Washington
& Lee (0-1). F&M secured its first back-to-back wins over
the Generals in a half century.
road tested
With the win on Saturday, Franklin & Marshall improved to
44-72-5 in its first road game of the season.
diplomats first home game
The first home game of the season has traditionally been kind to
Franklin & Marshall. The Diplomats are 86-34-1 in their first
game played in Lancaster. 53 of Franklin & Marshall’s
home openers have resulted in shutouts with F&M holding a 36-17
edge in those games.
The earliest home opener came in 2001 when F&M handed Oberlin
a 26-14 loss on September 1. The latest season opener came in the
1918 season when Franklin & Marshall hosted Albright. That game
was played on November 23rd with F&M taking a 25-7 win. F&M
opened the 2003 season on September 6 with a 30-6 victory against
Oberlin.
The biggest blowout was a 70-0 win over Swarthmore in 1974. The
1913 squad hung a 69-0 loss on the crew of the U.S.S. Constitution
in the first game on the Williamson gridiron. In 1917, F&M
suffered its worst loss in a home opener - a 63-0 drubbing by the
Carlisle Indians. All three of those games were also season
openers.
rookie recognition
Freshman, Sam Massaro (Old Tappan, N.J. /
Northern Valley Old Tappan), was named the Centennial
Conference’s Defensive Player of the Week in the wake of his
performance in the Diplomats’ 29-27 win over Washington &
Lee. The inside linebacker recorded eight tackles and picked off a
pass that he returned 30 yards in his collegiate debut. His efforts
led a defense that limited the Generals to just 229 yards of total
offense and did not allow a drive longer than 45 yards until
W&L’s final possession. The defensive player of the week
honor is F&M’s first since inside backer, James Gregory
‘09 took the title following last year’s October 11 win
over Ursinus.
additional honors
Wide receiver George Eager and punter
Brian Prater (Baldwin, Md. / St. Paul’s
School), were named to the Centennial Weekly Honor Roll.
Eager caught 13 passes for 104 yards and three of F&M’s
four touchdowns. Prater punted three times for 122 yards (40.7 ypp)
with a long of 45. He dropped one punt inside of the W&L
20.
hot-handed harrison
John Harrison reset Kyle Turner’s school
mark for completions in a game (34) with 35, moving him in to 15th
place on the career chart with 168 connections. At one point in the
first half, Harrison was 23-of-25. The sophomore slinger needs
three more completions to catch Larry Shadek on the career chart.
Harrison’s 74.5 completion percentage (35-of-47) at W&L
is tops amongst F&M quarterbacks with a minimum of 11 or more
pass attempts in a game.
let the eager soar
George Eager became the first Diplomat to score
twice in one game by the same means since the 2007 season finale
when Ryan Murray rushed into the zone five times. He is also the
first Diplomat to catch three touchdown passes in a game since he
did it back on September 22, 2007 at Juniata. Eager is the 13th
player to catch three touchdown passes in a game, tying
F&M’s record for TD receptions.
bent, not broken
Kudos to the Diplomats’ defense that came up huge in
short-yardage situations last Saturday. Not only did F&M hold
on a late two-point conversion that would have brought about
overtime, but the Diplomats stood tall on fourth and inches deep in
their own territory on the prior possession to help secure the
win.
pick’em contest
Ty Savastio (Downingtown, Pa. / Downingtown East)
recorded his second career interception in the win. His first came
in last year’s season opener against W&L. Savastio had
six solo tackles in the game and broke up a pass that was destined
to score in the second quarter. Three additional Diplomats picked
off passes: Jeffrey Liberatore (Lafayette, Pa. / La Salle
College HS), Barry Lovett (Brooklyn, N.Y. / Poly
Prep), and Sam Massaro. Liberatore had
six tackles, five solo, in the game.
centennial poll position
Franklin & Marshall was picked for a sixth place finish in the
nine team Centennial Conference. The Diplomats amassed 63 points in
the poll of the league’s head coaches and Sports Information
Directors. F&M was 18 points ahead of Ursinus and 12 points
behind Gettysburg. Johns Hopkins, with 115 points and 10 first
place votes, beat out Dickinson and Muhlenberg with 102 points
apiece.
captain’s choice
Seniors, George Eager, Barry Lovett
(Brooklyn, N.Y. / Poly Prep), Ryan Murray
(Sebastian, Fla. / St. Edward’s) and junior,
Mark Surma (Philadelphia / Central) lead the 122nd
edition of the Diplomats into battle this season.
all-conference kids
A solid sign that F&M’s program is turning the corner on
its way back to solid footing is last year’s All-Centennial
Conference selection. Eight Diplomats were tabbed for the mythical
11, matching the total of All-Centennial choices through the first
two years of the Troxell era. Of those eight choices, only three
return to the F&M lineup in 2008: George Eager
KR-1st/WR-2nd, Jeff Kellar (State College,
Pa. / State College) – DB-2nd, and Barry
Lovett CB-1st.
Eager entered the season’s final week as the third ranked
kick returner in the nation averaging over 32 yards per kick
return. In conference play, he averaged 27.0 yards on 18 kickoff
returns, and went 85-yards for a touchdown against Dickinson.
Eager’s presence forced teams to kick away, and often out of
bands in the latter half of the season. As a receiver, Eager caught
F&M’s two longest touchdowns of the season, scoring from
67 and 65 yards. He was named to the second team for the second
time in as many seasons. His five receiving touchdowns ranked third
amongst the league’s top receivers during league play.
Overall, Eager caught 51 passes for 637 yards and six
touchdowns.
Kellar made his first All-Centennial appearance following a season
in which he posted 55 tackles (39 solo) – good enough for
third on the team. He picked off three passes, returning one 51
yards for a touchdown - the second touchdown return of his career.
He also broke up four passes. Kellar is the only F&M
all-conference selection to also have earned a place on the
Centennial’s Academic Honor Roll.
Lovett, who rarely saw balls thrown in his direction, intercepted
a pair of passes and broke up four more in 2008. The physical
corner is also a force in stopping the run, piling up 36 tackles,
including five behind the line of scrimmage. He forced and
recovered a fumble as well.
we lovett
An unscientific poll of viewers participating in the Centennial
Conference’s inaugural online media day overwhelmingly
selected F&M cornerback, Barry Lovett as the
preseason frontrunner for Centennial Defensive Player of the Year.
Lovett captured 49 percent of the vote. Colin Wixted, a Johns
Hopkins linebacker, was second in the voting with 19 percent.
harrison 2.0
Last year, John Harrison became Franklin &
Marshall’s first freshman to accept the season’s first
snap since Rob Shepardson in 1979. The 2007 Maxwell Award recipient
threw for 1,328 yards - the fourth best season by a freshman on
record in the Centennial Conference. His 14 touchdown passes ties
the freshman record in the league with Gettysburg’s current
signal caller, Matt Flynn. Harrison’s 14 touchdown passes and
133 completions both rank ninth on F&M’s the
single-season list.
backfield depth
F&M has four backs that will see time in the season opener.
Ryan Murray (Sebastian, Fla. / St. Edward’s
School) is a punishing physical runner when moving north
and south, while Alan Williams (Benton, Ky. / Marshall
County) is a prototypical scat back that can line up
anywhere on the field. John Kaschak is a hybrid of the two
combining power and quickness.
Kaschak emerged as the feature back in 2008, carrying the workload
in the season’s early going with success. He toted
pigskin 119 times through the first four games averaging 96.25
yards per contest. Alone in the backfield while Murray and Williams
were injured, the freshman was nicked up by midseason. Murray
ended his 2007 season with one of the top rushing performances on
record at F&M, but struggled to regain that form after a leg
injury in camp. He still managed 3.4 yards per carry on the season,
and broke out for 74 yards on 10 carries in the season finale at
Gettysburg. Williams’ season was marred by a severe arm
injury suffered in the first half of the season-opener. He showed
flashes of brilliance upon his return, particularly when provided
with space to work. In four games he recorded at least one
reception of 10 or more yards, mostly coming after the catch and
broke off several long runs. Freshman, Jacob Kelly (San Diego,
Calif. / The Bishop’s School), has earned some touches as
well. A back built like Williams, Kelly was the team MVP on a 12-0
squad that won the San Diego section his junior year.
looking ahead
The Diplomats face another ODAC opponent in Catholic University.
It will be F&M’s home opener. The game will mark the last
time F&M will play two non-conference opponents in the regular
season as Susquehanna is set to join the Centennial as an associate
member for football in 2010.
trox on the record
On the offense: “Overall, we were productive. We need to
eliminate mistakes and be a little more consistent - left too many
points on the field.”
On the Defense:
“The defense played very well considering 82 of the 229 yard
came on the last drive. It was a hot day, and with a lack of depth
they held up well. The fourth down stop and two-point conversion
stop showed that they will play with a relentless
effort.”
On Harrison:
“John is a hard worker. He prepares well, knows where to go
with the ball and throws on time.”
On Massaro:
“Sam played extremely hard and is going to be a good player
in this conference. He made a few mistakes and made a lot of
plays.”
