Box Score
LANCASTER, Pa. – Marc Patricelli
scored his first collegiate touchdown on an eight-yard run and Brandon Kline
kicked two field goals to lead Franklin & Marshall over Gettysburg 13-7 in
Centennial Conference (CC) football action on Saturday.
Patricelli finished with 117 yards rushing to help the Diplomats
(5-5, 4-2 CC) posted their fourth consecutive victory over the Bullets (4-6, 3-3
CC) and claimed second place in the final CC standings. Senior quarterback Jeff
Harner found eight different receivers for 211 passing yards, helping
F&M post a 363-270 advantage in total offense.
Kline, a freshman who kicked four field goals in last week’s
19-17 win at Ursinus, booted field goals of 21 and 31 yards on Saturday to provide
the margin of victory. Chris Stepien paced the defense with 13 tackles.
Gettysburg sophomore Tom Sturges (Ridgefield, CT/Ridgefield)
posted his sixth 100-yard rushing game of the season, rolling up 113 yards against
the Diplomats to finish the season with a conference-best 1,185 yards. Sturges’
season total was the highest by a Bullet since Paul Smith ran for 1,546 yards
in 1999.
Joe Fricchione
(Branchville, NJ/High Point) scored Gettysburg’s lone touchdown on a two-yard
run with 5:43 remaining. Nathan Smith (Hanover, PA/Cooperstown Central [NY])
led all players with 16 tackles.
With
a winning conference record on the line, Franklin & Marshall built a 13-0
lead then held on down the stretch for the victory.
An interception by J.C. Capote on the Bullets’
second series set up the Diplomats’ first three points. Starting from the Gettysburg
42, F&M used 25 yards from Patricelli to get to the 3 before Kline chipped
in a 21-yard field goal for a 3-0 lead.
The
Diplomats made it 10-0 on their next possession, marching 45 yards on five plays.
Patricelli accounted for all the drive’s yardage, making a nifty 12-yard reception
to open the march and also ripping off a 12-yard run before scoring on an eight-yard
scamper.
Gettysburg’s best
chance for first-half points came with six minutes left in the second quarter.
Behind 62 yards on seven carries by Sturges, the Bullets moved from their own
6 to the Diplomat 18, but an overthrown pass and a missed 35-yard field goal ended
the opportunity.
F&M used
an 11-play, 62-yard drive to put Kline in range for a 31-yard field goal and a
13-0 lead with 6:23 left in the third quarter.
Gettysburg
climbed back into the game with an interception by Harold Barton (Somerdale,
NJ/Sterling) that led to a 12-play, 79-yard touchdown drive midway through
the fourth quarter.
Fricchione
reeled off 19 yards on three carries to move the ball over midfield. Hunter
McMillan (Middletown, DE/Wilmington Friends) kept the march alive with
a 10-yard toss to Dusty Green (Idaville, PA/Bermudian Springs) on
fourth-and-5, then bootlegged for 28-yards to the Diplomat 2 on a fourth-and-1.
Fricchione scored on the next play and Josh Huson’s
(McLean, VA/McLean) extra point cut the deficit to 13-7 with 5:43 remaining.
Gettysburg got the ball back after at its own 35 after
forcing a punt with 3:33 to play. The drive, however, stalled at the F&M 46
after a broken play netted no yards on a fourth-and-4.
The Bullets had one final possession, but John Warnick
sacked McMillan at the Gettysburg 46 as time expired.
Jay Cage (N. Charleston, SC/Sterling [NJ])
also recorded an interception in the loss while Dan Hogdahl (Riverside,
NJ/Pompton Lakes) added 12 tackles, including one sack.
Despite the loss, the Bullets finished with their highest
conference victory (3) total since 1996.
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