LANCASTER, Pa — Justin Decristofaro's 22-yard touchdown pass to Nick Giarratano gave Ursinus its first lead with 6:21 left in the game. The Bears (2-0, 1-0 CC) defense held firm the rest of the way, delivering Ursinus a 10-7 win over Franklin & Marshall in the Centennial opener for both squads.

After watching the Diplomats (1-1, 0-1 CC) build a 7-0 lead on their opening possession, both defenses went into lockdown mode. F&M lived on the edge throughout the second half, but a 20-yard punt return by Mike Rissmiller set the Bears up on the F&M 44-yard line. Bryan Ellis covered 17-yards on a first down draw. He went five more yards on the next play before Decristofaro's touchdown toss.

Ellis rushed 23 times for 126 yards, while Decristofaro completed 9-of-18 passes for 142 yards.

For the second time in as many weeks, the Diplomats scored on their opening possession. After an Ursinus three-and-out, F&M took over at the 50. John Harrison and Jay Ridinger hooked up to cover over half of the ground on a flag route that set up Alan William's one-yard plunge to make it 7-0.

Then the defenses took over.

Ursinus limited the Diplomats to 235 yards on the day. F&M held the Bears to 291 yards of total offense. The teams combined for eight sacks, four apiece, with F&M's C.T. Marsh accounting for half of the Diplomats' total. Marsh led F&M with 10 tackles on the afternoon, four stops were for losses. Joe Henry and Sam Morgan each recorded seven tackles for the Bears.

The Diplomats turned the ball over twice, while Ursinus fell on both of their fumbles. The Diplomats first turnover proved costly. After hitting Ridinger on back to back plays for 12 and 51 yards, respectively, Harrison rolled out from the Bears' 11-yardline. Unable to locate a receiver, he was hit from behind by Ursinus' Wills Wendell.

The Bears recovered the loose ball and went on their longest drive of the day, covering 59 yards in 11 plays before Michael Bennett booted a 32-yard field goal to make it 7-3. The three-point drive was the only Ursinus march over 50-yards in the contest.

The Bears limited Harrison to 16 completions and 193 yards on 31 passes. Ridinger accounted for 118 of the receiving yards on six catches.

The Diplomats return to action on Friday night at Dickinson for the annual Battle for the Conestoga Wagon.

Score by Quarters 1 2 3 4 Score
Ursinus 0 3 0 7 10 Record: (2-0,1-0)
Franklin & Marshall 7 0 0 0 7
Record: (1-1,0-1)

Scoring Summary:
1st - 07:19 - F&M - Alan Williams 1 yd run (Chris DeStefano kick), 6-54 2:38, UC 0 - F&M 7
2nd - 00:40 - UC - Michael Bennett 32 yd field goal, 11-59 5:21, UC 3 - F&M 7
4th - 06:21 - UC - Nick Giarratano 22 yd pass from Justin Decristofaro (Michael Bennett kick), 3-44 1:11, UC 10 - F&M 7



UC F&M
FIRST DOWNS 15 11
RUSHES-YARDS (NET) 44-149 24-38
PASSING YDS (NET) 142 197
Passes Att-Comp-Int 18-9-0 38-17-1
TOTAL OFFENSE PLAYS-YARDS 62-291 62-235
Fumble Returns-Yards 1-6 0-0
Punt Returns-Yards 2-29 5-70
Kickoff Returns-Yards 2-27 3-62
Interception Returns-Yards 1-0 0-0
Punts (Number-Avg) 10-38.4 8-39.8
Fumbles-Lost 2-0 1-1
Penalties-Yards 5-41 5-45
Possession Time 33:31 26:29
Third-Down Conversions 2 of 14 4 of 16
Fourth-Down Conversions 0 of 0 1 of 3
Red-Zone Scores-Chances 1-2 1-2
Sacks By: Number-Yards 4-28 4-24




RUSHING: Ursinus-Bryan Ellis 23-126; Teddy Conrad 11-49; CJ Yespelkis 1-5; TEAM 2-minus 3; Justin Decristofaro 7-minus 28. Franklin & Marshall-John Kaschak 15-63; Alan Williams 3-4; TEAM 1-minus 2; John Harrison 5-minus 27.

PASSING: Ursinus-Justin Decristofaro 9-18-0-142. Franklin & Marshall-John Harrison 16-37-1-193; Michael Deutch 1-1-0-4.

RECEIVING: Ursinus-Storm Miller 3-36; Nick Giarratano 2-31; Jerry Rahill 1-45; CJ Yespelkis 1-21; Bryan Ellis 1-8; Travis Evans 1-1. Franklin & Marshall-Jay Ridinger 6-118; John Kaschak 5-34; Jarrell Diggs 2-18; Alan Williams 2-7; Tim Muller 1-12; Colton Weaver 1-8.

INTERCEPTIONS: Ursinus-Chris Rountree 1-0. Franklin & Marshall-None.

FUMBLES: Ursinus-Justin Decristofaro 2-0. Franklin & Marshall-John Harrison 1-1.

SACKS (UA-A): Ursinus-Sam Morgan 1-1; Wills Wendell 1-0; Greg Martell 0-1; Joe Henry 1-0. Franklin & Marshall-C.T. Marsh 2-0; John Gandolfo 1-0; Mark Surma 1-0.

TACKLES (UA-A): Ursinus-Joe Henry 5-2; Sam Morgan 1-6; Chris Rountree 4-2; Shane Whalen 3-2; Sean Whalen 3-1; Mike Rissmiller 3-0; Dave Queroli 2-1; Joe Galie 2-1; Shane Eachus 1-2; Wills Wendell 2-0; Andrew Regan 1-1; Greg Martell 0-2; Jerry Rahill 1-0; Bryan Ellis 1-0; Michael Bennett 1-0; Forrie Miller 1-0; David Kennedy 0-1; Tim Blaine 0-1; Ben Abitz 0-1; Joe Kost 0-1; Chris Salaga 0-1; Drew Semple 0-1. Franklin & Marshall-C.T. Marsh 8-2; Kurt Rogers 5-3; Sam Massaro 3-5; Ty Savastio 6-1; Shane Gray 4-1; Drew Hutcheon 3-2; Mark Surma 1-3; Nick Barbieri 1-2; Phil Barbieri 2-0; TEAM 2-0; Donald Wiezik 2-0; James Freeman 1-1; Trevor Barsamian 1-0; Brian Kelly 1-0; John Gandolfo 1-0; Jonathan Struss 1-0; Jarrell Diggs 1-0; T.J. Tynan 1-0.