Oct 01, 2011
LANCASTER, Pa. – Dickinson scored 21 unanswered points to open the second half en route to a 31-24 victory over Franklin & Marshall Saturday afternoon in Centennial Conference (CC) football action. The win sends the coveted Conestoga Wagon Trophy back to Carlisle.
Trailing 21-0 at the break, the Red Devils (2-3, 2-2 CC) opened up the third quarter with three scores in under ten minutes. The first came through the air when Tyler Rosa collected a Cole Ahnell pass for a 13-yard touchdown. The reception capped off a 7-play, 58-yard drive in the first two minutes of the second half.
The Red Devils struck again three minutes later when Mike Capone capped off a 5-play, 55-yard drive with a three-yard plunge, which put Dickinson within seven, 21-14.
F&M (1-4, 1-3 CC) attempted to stop the bleeding with a sustained drive on the ensuring possession. The Diplomats took the ball from their own 34 down to the Dickinson 19, before John Harrison was picked off by Robert Springs who took the ball 85 yards to house to tie game at 21-21.
Aaron Fant got the Diplomats in scoring range with a 71-yard kickoff return on the ensuing kickoff to the Dickinson eight. Dickinson's defense answered the call, forcing the Diplomats to settle for a field goal. Chris DeStefano split the uprights with a 22-yard kick to put F&M back on top, 24-21, with 3:08 remaining in the third quarter.
David London tied the game at 24 with a 27-yard field goal with 12:02 remaining the game. The teams traded possessions, before the Red Devils put together an 11-play, 77-yard game-winning drive that spanned over four minutes. Capone finished the drive off with a two-yard run, which stood as the game winner.
F&M had a chance to answer when Jonathan Struss took the kickoff 23 yards to the F&M 38. E.J. Schneider took the Diplomats 25 yards down the field in five plays, but was intercepted by Lin Worthington at the Dickinson five to seal the victory.
The game appeared to be headed in F&M's favor as the Diplomats were able to move the ball with ease, and their defense stifled the Red Devils' offense, in the first half. F&M scored 21 unanswered points going in the break and its offense produced 249 yards while the defense limited Dickinson to just 79 total yards.
John Harrison connected with Brian Kelly on a five-yard pass for the first score of the game as F&M took an early 7-0 lead.
John Kaschak (21-98) found pay dirt twice, one by land and one by air, for F&M's next two touchdowns. Kaschak's first score came at the end of a 9-play, 80-yard drive that put F&M up14-0 just 34 seconds into the second quarter. The senior became the 33rd Centennial and third F&M back to rush for 2,000 yards in his career on a 23-yard scoring jaunt.
Harrison found Kaschak with a 16-yard strike to wrap up a 15-play, 85-yard drive with 4:16 remaining to the break. That ended up being the last touchdown of the day for Diplomats.
Harrison went 26 of 32 for 173 yards and went over the 8,000-yard plateau in his career. Tim Mueller found himself on the receiving end of seven passes for 84 yard while Jordan Zackery hauled in eight catches for 40 yards.
C.T. Marsh picked up 2.5 sacks and is now just 3.5 sacks away from tying the school's career sack record of 25.5 set by Matt DeChamps '92. Mike Shin and Nick Barbieri both finished with a seven tackles while Kenny Provost, Donald Wiezik and Marsh all tallied six.
F&M will take a week off before heading to McDaniel Oct. 15 for a noon kickoff.