Nov. 3, 2007

Box Score

BALTIMORE, MD - Franklin & Marshall senior quarterback Kyle Turner (Haddonfield, NJ/Haddonfield) threw for 198 yards and two touchdowns and directed a game-sealing drive that consumed the final 6:20 of the fourth quarter to lead the Diplomats to a 19-11 victory over host Johns Hopkins at Homewood Field Saturday afternoon. The win, the first for the Diplomats against Johns Hopkins since 1996, is the second straight for Franklin & Marshall, which improves to 3-6 overall and 3-4 in the Centennial Conference. Johns Hopkins falls to 3-6 overall and 2-5 in the Centennial.

Turner and Diplomats took the lead for good less than eight minutes into the game as they moved 70 yards in five plays with Jay Ridinger (Lititz, PA/Manheim Township) grabbing a 12-yard touchdown pass from Turner to cap the drive. Just moments earlier the Blue Jays had possession inside the F&M 25-yard line before losing the ball on a fumble. Turner and George Eager (Lititz, PA/Manheim Township) connected on a 44-yard pass play on F&M's first play after the fumble and Turner hit Ridinger four plays later to give the Diplomats the early lead.

A snap over Johns Hopkins' punter Max Islinger's (Furlong, PA/Central Bucks East) head on the Blue Jays' ensuing possession resulted in a safety to make it 9-0 and Paul Sousa (Chester, NJ/West Morris Mendham) made it 12-0 at the end of the first quarter with a 40-yard field goal late in the period.

Hopkins finally broke through midway through the second quarter when they took over at the F&M 45-yard line and moved to the Diplomat 27 before freshman Alex Lachman (Livingston, NJ/Livingston) drilled a career-long 44-yard field goal to make it 12-3 at the half.

Playing into a stiff breeze, the Blue Jays held the Diplomats off the scoreboard in the third quarter, but a fumbled punt return early in the fourth quarter gave the Diplomats the ball at midfield and F&M needed just eight plays to go 50 yards to push the lead to 19-3. Ryan Murray (Sebastian, FL/St. Edward's School) rushed for 23 yards on four carries and Didinger caught two passes - the first a seven-yarder on third-and three at the JHU 17 and the second for a seven-yard touchdown with 7:50 remaining - to fuel the drive.

Hopkins needed less than two minutes to make it a one-score game after Didinger's second touchdown as Islinger quickly moved the Blue Jays from their own 40 into scoring position. After scrambling for 13 yards on first down, he connected with junior Chris Baldwin (Southampton, NJ/Bishop Eustace) for 44 yards on third-and-12 from the Diplomat 49 to set the Blue Jays up at the F&M 5-yard line. Islinger hit junior fullback Greg Chimera (North Potomac, MD/Quince Orchard) for a touchdown one play later and found freshman Tucker Michels (Allendale, NJ/Northern Highlands) in the back of the end zone on the ensuing two-point attempt to make it 19-11 with more than six minutes remaining.

However, Turner and the Diplomats would never let the Blue Jays see the ball again. Behind the running of Murray, who had 34 yards on seven carries, and the passing of Turner, who was 3-for 3 on the drive, Franklin & Marshall converted all four of its third-down attempts over the final 6:20 to seal the victory.

Turner was 22-of-33 for the 198 yards and two touchdowns. Ridinger had a game-high nine receptions for 70 yards and the two scores, while Murray rushed 23 times for 116 yards. Fueled by the game-ending drive, the Diplomats held the ball for 13:25 in the fourth quarter and held a 10:22 advantage in time of possession. Jeff Kellar (State College PA/State College) posted a team-high 12 tackles for the Diplomats, who held the Blue Jays to 165 yards of total offense.

Sophomore Andrew Kase (Wyomissing, PA/Wyomissing) turned in his fifth 100-yard rushing game of the season for the Blue Jays as he rushed 28 times for 111 yards. Islinger was 8-of-18 for 79 yards with the one touchdown pass to Chimera. Senior Adam Winter (Berwick, PA/Berwick) led the Hopkins defense with a career-high 13 tackles.

Johns Hopkins will close the season next Saturday at McDaniel, while F&M will host Gettysburg in its season-finale.