Wagon Week: Dickinson (2-0) at Franklin & Marshall (2-0)

Sep 15, 2009

series history - the vitals
Overall: F&M 59-38-3 | In Centennial: DC 18-8 | In Lancaster: F&M leads 32-19-3 | Streak: DC +5

The series started in Carlisle on October 30, 1889, with a 10-0 Dickinson win. Both teams travelled via Conestoga wagon, hence the title of the trophy. The teams gathered again on November 28th of that year, with F&M posting a 22-0 shutout. The Diplomats lead the series 59-38-3, but Dickinson has won 18 of the last 21 meetings.

the last meeting
Greg Lord rushed for 115 yards and three touchdowns to lead Dickinson to a 34-20 win over Franklin & Marshall. The win left the Conestoga Wagon Trophy in Carlisle for the fifth straight year. Lord's final two touchdowns were the difference in the fourth quarter. He plunged in from a yard out early in the period, capping a 72-yard drive to make it 28-20 in favor of the Red Devils. The Diplomats responded with a 58-yard drive that left them deep in Devils' territory. On third and goal from the Dickinson two-yardline, John Harrison was hurried into a low throw that was picked off by Matt Stone, who immediately fumbled the ball forward. Dickinson recovered the ball on their own 18, and then marched 82 yards on 12 plays to set up Lord's final score, a three-yard plunge, to make it the 34-20 final.

the last meeting in lancaster
In 2007, Dickinson quarterback Ian Mitchell was responsible for three touchdowns and 324 yards of total offense in leading Dickinson to a 28-21 win over Franklin & Marshall.

f&m in the centennial opener
As far as history is concerned, no team has fared better in its Centennial Conference opener than Franklin & Marshall. The Diplomats are 17-9 in their first Centennial game of the season.

for the record
F&M is 2-0 for the first time since the 8-3 2004 campaign.

f&m last week
John Harrison (Flourtown, Pa. / La Salle College HS) tied a school record with five touchdown passes, leading Franklin & Marshall to a 42-21 win over Catholic on Saturday. The Diplomats' sophomore completed 24-of-32 passes for 369 yards in the win over the Cardinals. Harrison's fifth touchdown pass - a perfect strike 17-yard to tight end Mike Deutch down the middle of the field - tied Wally Witmer's school record for touchdown completions in a game.

dickinson last week
Dickinson used a balanced attack on both offense and defense to hold #17 Hobart to just a field goal in a 26-3 win at Biddle Field. Junior running back Greg Lord rushed for a game-high 117 yards and a touchdown on 14 carries. Tim Smith ran for 59 yards and Tim Wells added 53 to the Devils' ground game. Senior quarterback Ian Mitchell picked his moments on Saturday, running for 66 yards and a pair of touchdowns to go with 85 yards passing and another score.

scouting the devils
Dickinson ran for 298 yards against the #17 team in the country on its way to a 26-3 win over Hobart. Greg Lord rushed for 117 yards and a touchdown. Linebacker Pat McNeal had 10 stops for the defense. Quarterback Ian Mitchell has 3,798 career passing yards and needs 202 to become the 24th Centennial passer to reach the 4,000-yard mark. His 1,867 career rushing yards is 26 shy of breaking the Conference record of 1,892 held by McDaniel's Jamie Harris. Linebacker Pat McNeal had 10 stops for the defense.

ball hogs
The Diplomats have possessed the ball for 10 or more minutes of the third quarter in both games so far this season.

player of the week
Franklin & Marshall quarterback, John Harrison was named the Centennial Conference's Offensive Player of the Week for his role in F&M's 42-21 win over Catholic University on Saturday. Harrison tied Franklin & Marshall's record for touchdown passes and touchdowns responsible for in a game with five completions ending in the endzone. His passing record matches the effort of Wally Witmer, who tossed five touchdowns passes in F&M's 1952 meeting with Johns Hopkins. Witmer and Harrison are joined only by Ryan Murray in the TD's responsible for list. Murray rushed for five touchdowns against Gettysburg in 2007.

A sophomore signal caller, Harrison completed 24-of-32 for a career high of 369 yards - the second best game in terms of yards in 121 years and two games worth of football at F&M. Harrison finished 23 yards short of the single-game record owned by Beau Eckert who rolled up 392 yards against Dickinson on October 7, 1995. The 300-yard effort is F&M's first since Kyle Turner threw for 312 yards against Moravian on October 13, 2007. It was also the first game in which an F&M quarterback passed for more than 350 yards since Turner gained 361 yards against Catholic on September 29, 2007.

A dozen games into his career as a starter, Harrison is placing himself in the company of elite quarterbacks in Franklin & Marshall's rich football tradition. He already ranks 13th in career completions (192) and 16th in career pass attempts (307). During the Catholic win, Harrison became the 11th passer to throw 20 or more touchdowns in his career and the 15th to hit the 2,000-yard mark (2,021). He now sits tenth overall in career touchdown passes with 22.

Harrison is the second Diplomat to earn player of the week honors this season. Inside linebacker, Sam Massaro (Old Tappan, N.J. / Old Tappan Northern Valley), was named the Defensive Player of the Week following the season opening win at Washington & Lee. Barry Lovett (Brooklyn, N.Y. / Poly Prep) was named to this week's Defensive Honor Roll after recording five solo tackles, his second interception of the season, and two pass breakups.

stride-for-stride
Barry Lovett and Ty Savastio (Downingtown, Pa. / Downingtown East) are stride-for-stride in the race for supremacy on the corner. Both recorded an interception for the second straight week and both broke up a pair of passes against Catholic. Lovett is 14th in career PBUs at F&M with 14. He is currently tied with five players for 20th in career interceptions with six picks.

never skipped a beat
Starting in place of the injured Shane Gray (State College, Pa. / State College), Drew Hutcheon (Mt. Laurel, N.J. / Bishop Eustace) led all F&M tacklers with eight stops and a pass breakup last week. Seven of his stops were solo tackles.

he tackles too
Placekicker Devin Hunter (Collingdale, Pa. / Academy Park) recorded two tackles on kickoff returns.

one if by land
John Kaschak (Lake Hoptacong, N.J. / Jefferson Twp.) is eight yards away from 700 on the ground in his career. That would make him the 31st player in F&M history to amass 700 yards. Ryan Murray (Sebastian, Fla. / St. Edward's) needs 60 yards to become F&M's 14th player to rush for 1,200 yards. One rushing touchdown would make him the 25th player to punch in 10 times over land.

let it ride
Jay Ridinger (Lititz, Pa. / Manheim Twp.) is sitting on 80 career catches, ranking 16th overall in receptions at F&M. He needs five to move into top 15.

eager catching up to leaders
Third-year Diplomat, George Eager (Lititz, Pa. / Manheim Twp.), is tied for fourth in career receptions with Matt Wagaman at 138. He needs 11 catches to tie Zac Kraft for third on that list and a dozen receptions to become the third player to 150 career receptions. He needs three yards to tie Brad Bate on the career receiving yards list at 1,595. He is eight yards from becoming the seventh player to 1,600 career yards and needs 43 yards to tie Dale Schleif for sixth at 1,635. Eager has 19 TD receptions for fourth on career list. His five TD's this season are already tied for the 23rd best season in terms of receiving touchdown production.

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.

looking ahead
The Diplomats head for the hills of Huntingdon, Pa. to face Juniata in Centennial Conference action, the final game before F&M's off week.