LEXINGTON, Va. – Franklin & Marshall opened its 2011 campaign with a 24-10 setback to No. 18 Washington and Lee Saturday afternoon in non-conference football action. Five turnovers proved too costly for the Diplomats to overcome against one of the top teams in Division III. The loss ends a three-game season opener winning streak for the Diplomats as they fell to 0-1 on the season.
The Generals (1-0) struck first with a 40-yard, 7-play drive, 45 seconds into the second quarter. Charlie Westfal found Alex Evans for 10-yard touchdown pass and a 7-0 W&L lead.
F&M answered on the ensuing possession with a 12-play, 57-yard drive capped off with a 25-yard field by Chris DeStefano. The Diplomats had a scoring opportunity with 1:56 remaining in the half, but Rob Look intercepted John Harrison on the nine-yard line keeping W&L ahead 7-3 at halftime.
W&L added three in the third on a 40-yard field goal by Peter Alston with 3:45 remaining in the quarter.
Down, 10-3, F&M's defense forced the Generals to punt on their first possession in the fourth quarter. The ball hit an F&M player and was scooped up by W&L on the Diplomats' nine-yard line. Brett Murray hit pay dirt from six yards out two plays later to give W&L a 17-3 lead with 10:29 remaining in the game.
F&M again answered the bell with a touchdown on its next possession. Harrison found Lamont Jackson with a 17-yard scoring strike to cut W&L's lead to 17-10 with 7:20 left in the game. The drive was kept alive when F&M faced a third and 16. Harrison found John Kaschak for a 32 pass to to extent what would be an eight-play, 63-yard scoring drive. Harrison had 59 of his 302 yards on what turned out to the Diplomats final scoring drive.
It took the Generals a little over three minutes to answer with on a 65-yard, six-play drive for the 24-10 final. Westfal took it himself on a six-yard jaunt for with just under four minutes to play.
The Diplomats drove into W&L territory with a little over two minutes to play, but John Beriont intercepted Harrison to preserve the victory.
Harrison threw for 302 yards on 28 of 46. He had two interceptions and a score.
Jackson caught eight passes for 87 yards in his freshmen debut. Fellow freshmen Jordan Zachery picked up 65 yards on seven catches for F&M.
F&M produced 316 totals yards on offense, while its defense held W&L to just 228 yards. Ty Savastio had team-high seven solo stops. Phil and Nick Barbieri along with Donald Wiezik had six total tackles. Kenny Provost and C.T. Marsh teamed up on a sack for the Diplomats.
Russell Steward led the Generals on the ground with 57 yards on 10 carries. Westfal completed 3 of 9 passes for 30 yards and one score and rushed for another touchdown. Defensively, Jesse Jenkins notched a team-best 11 tackles while Alex Castelli chipped in a pair of sacks.
The Diplomats return home next Saturday for their home opener against Muhlenberg. Kickoff is set for 1 p.m.
Franklin & Marshall vs Washington and Lee (Sep 3, 2011 at Lexington, Va.)
Score by Quarters 1 2 3 4 Score
Franklin & Marshall 0 3 0 7 10 Record: (0-1)
Washington and Lee 0 7 3 14 24 Record: (1-0)
Scoring Summary:
2nd 14:16 W&L Alex Evans 10 yd pass from Charlie Westfal (Peter Alston kick), 7-40 3:04, F&M 0 - W&L 7
10:02 F&M Chris DeStefano 25 yd field goal, 12-57 4:08, F&M 3 - W&L 7
3rd 03:45 W&L Peter Alston 40 yd field goal, 7-39 3:08, F&M 3 - W&L 10
4th 10:29 W&L Brett Murray 6 yd run (Peter Alston kick), 2-9 0:32, F&M 3 - W&L 17
07:20 F&M Lamont Jackson 17 yd pass from John Harrison (Chris DeStefano kick), 8-63 3:09, F&M 10 - W&L 17
03:51 W&L Charlie Westfal 6 yd run (Peter Alston kick), 6-65 3:23, F&M 10 - W&L 24
RUSHING: Franklin & Marshall-John Kaschak 10-29; Lamont Jackson 5-11; Scott LaValva 3-9; John Harrison 6-minus 35. Washington and Lee-Russell Stewart 10-57; Brett Murray 16-56; Sasha Vandalov 8-55; Luke Heinsohn 8-26; Nick Lombardo 4-4; Charlie Westfal 5-0.
PASSING: Franklin & Marshall-John Harrison 28-46-2-302. Washington and Lee-Charlie Westfal 3-9-0-30.
RECEIVING: Franklin & Marshall-Lamont Jackson 8-87; Jordan Zachery 7-65; Tim Muller 4-50; John Kaschak 3-42; Colton Weaver 3-30; Joe Goggin 1-11; Alan Williams 1-10; Paul McGann 1-7. Washington and Lee-Alex Evans 2-17; Cody Smith 1-13.
INTERCEPTIONS: Franklin & Marshall-None. Washington and Lee-John Beriont 1-7; Rob Look 1-5.
FUMBLES: Franklin & Marshall-Paul McGann 1-1; TEAM 1-1; Jordan Zachery 1-1. Washington and Lee-Nick Lombardo 1-0.
SACKS (UA-A): Franklin & Marshall-Kenny Provost 0-1; C.T. Marsh 0-1. Washington and Lee-Alex Castelli 2-0; Stephen Peck 1-0; John Kavanagh 1-0; Rob Look 1-0.
TACKLES (UA-A): Franklin & Marshall-Phil Barbieri 4-2; Nick Barbieri 2-4; Donald Wiezik 2-4; Ty Savastio 5-0; Brendan Wengerter 4-1; Kyle Wengerter 2-3; Kurt Rogers 3-1; Sam Massaro 2-2; C.T. Marsh 1-3; Kenny Provost 1-3; Jordan Studevan 1-3; Jonathan Struss 2-1; Brian Velasco 2-0; Chris DeStefano 2-0; Brian Low1-1; John Stark 1-1; Andrew Martinez 1-1; Joe Goggin 1-0; T.J. Tynan 1-0; Sam Dickinson 1-0; John Gandolfo 0-1; Troy Harrison 0-1. Washington and Lee-Jesse Jenkins 6-5; John Kavanagh 5-1; Mike Hartford 3-2; Rob Look 1-4; Doug Fraser 0-5; John Beriont 4-0; Zach Zoller 2-2; Kevin Travaline 0-4; Jake Pelton 2-1;
Stephen Peck 2-1; M. Thompson 1-2; Michael Unholz 0-3; Alex Castelli 2-0; Sam McClain 1-1; Jake Rudolph 1-1; Hal Hundley 1-1; A. DiGregorio 0-2; Brandon Taylor 1-0; Turner Meeks 1-0; G. Larramendi 1-0; Kenny Sharpless 0-1; Taylor Malone 0-1; William Patton 0-1; Micah Fleet 0-1; Greg Bart