LANCASTER, Pa. – Franklin & Marshall junior John Harrison set school records for career completions and passing touchdowns as the Diplomats trounced Juniata 55-13 in a Centennial Conference (CC) football contest on Saturday. Three of his four touchdown strikes came in the second quarter when F&M lit up the scoreboard for 28 points.

Harrison completed 14-of-21 throws on the day for 198 yards before yielding the field to F&M frosh, E.J. Schneider. Harrison's fourth pass of the day, an 11-yard catch and run by tailback Alan Williams, marked the 53rd touchdown of Harrison's career. That gave him sole possession of the record he has shared with Joe Coviello '77 since last week's win at Dickinson.

Harrison's toss made up for a rare misfire on the game's first play from scrimmage when the Eagles' Andrew Masullo picked him off. Juniata hitched its wagon to Derek Kramer who ran through a dormant Diplomats defense to set up a Gino Ramires touchdown toss to tight end Ronnie Shrift. The touchdown was the Eagles first of the season and last of the day.

Juniata answered Harrison's record throw with a field goal to take a 10-7 lead to the end of the first quarter. Williams made sure it didn't last long into the second. The junior took a handoff at the five and won a footrace to the right pylon to make it 14-10.

His run opened up the offensive floodgates.

F&M scored aerial touchdowns on three of the next four possessions. Jay Ridinger was on the receiving end of two of the three touchdown strikes with Jarrell Diggs in between. Ridinger, who reached the 1,500-career receiving yards plateau on Saturday, ran a go route down the seam to give Harrison an easy strike to make it 21-10.

Two possessions later, Harrison hit Diggs on a quick slant on third and goal from the 10-yard line. On the next F&M possession, Harrison appeared to hit Diggs again on a Hail Mary as the clock expired, but the ball was knocked loose and into the hands of Ridinger giving F&M a 35-10 lead at the break. On the drive leading up to the close of the half, Harrison completed the 480th pass of his career, topping Bill Meekings mark that stood since his senior season came to a close in 1992.

Ridinger finished the day with seven catches for a career-high 155 yards. It was the fifth 100-plus yard performance of his career. Diggs caught four passes for 32 yards.

While the offense was rolling along, the defense preyed on the Eagles, piling up seven sacks, forcing and recovering three fumbles and picking off a Juniata pass. Two of the turnovers ended would be scoring drives for the Eagles, while one put six points on the board for F&M. Facing third and 13, Ramires rolled out, but could not escape Kyle Wengerter and Jordan Studevan. As Wengerter was pulling the birds' quarterback to the ground, Studevan swiped the ball from his hand. Donald Wiezik scooped the loose ball and trotted 14-yards to paydirt for the Diplomats second touchdown return of a recovered fumble this season.

In the third quarter, Kurt Rogers popped the ball from the hands of Kramer on the one as he was headed in for a sure touchdown. Drew Hutcheon fell on the loose ball in the end zone to eliminate the threat. Freshman Chase Andreassi picked off Juniata backup George Bivens in the end zone in the fourth quarter.

No Diplomat defender offered a better day than Kenny Provost. The sophomore led all tacklers with nine stops, seven solo, including a pair of sacks setting the Eagles back 19 yards.    

Kramer led the Juniata offense with 75 yards on 20 carries, while Ramires completed 14 of 24 passes for 105 yards and a touchdown. Abram Mellinger caught six passes for 53 yards for the visitors.

Franklin & Marshall moves to 3-1 (2-1 CC) with the win, while Juniata falls to 0-4 (0-4 CC). The Diplomats return to action next Saturday in Selinsgrove when F&M takes on Susquehanna for the first time since the Crusaders joined the Centennial.

Score by Quarters    1    2    3    4    Score    
Juniata    10    0    3    0    13    Record: (0-4,0-4)
Franklin & Marshall    7    28    6    14    55    Record: (3-1,2-1)
Scoring Summary:         
1st    10:28    JUN    Ronnie Shrift 10 yd pass from Gino Ramires (Scott Andrews kick), 9-54 4:17, JUN 7 - F&M 0
     6:16    F&M    Alan Williams 11 yd pass from John Harrison (Chris DeStefano kick), 7-65 4:12, JUN 7 - F&M 7
     1:57    JUN    Scott Andrews 35 yd field goal, 10-52 4:19, JUN 10 - F&M 7
2nd    14:55    F&M    Alan Williams 5 yd run (Chris DeStefano kick), 7-54 2:02, JUN 10 - F&M 14
     11:43    F&M    Jay Ridinger 33 yd pass from John Harrison (Chris DeStefano kick), 2-50 0:54, JUN 10 - F&M 21
     6:33    F&M    Jarrell Diggs 10 yd pass from John Harrison (Chris DeStefano kick), 3-10 0:55, JUN 10 - F&M 28
     0:00    F&M    Jay Ridinger 31 yd pass from John Harrison (Chris DeStefano kick), 10-74 1:11, JUN 10 - F&M 35
3rd    6:31    JUN    Scott Andrews 29 yd field goal, 9-24 3:20, JUN 13 - F&M 35
     1:30    F&M    Donald Wiezik 14 yd fumble recovery (Chris DeStefano kick failed), , JUN 13 - F&M 41
4th    12:24    F&M    Peter Gumas 5 yd pass from E.J. Schneider (Chris DeStefano kick), 6-52 2:26, JUN 13 - F&M 48
     6:19    F&M    Jacob Kelly 5 yd run (Chris Bennett kick), 9-43 4:04, JUN 13 - F&M 55
     JUN    F&M
FIRST DOWNS    21    18
RUSHES-YARDS (NET)    49-109    27-105
PASSING YDS (NET)    110    250
Passes Att-Comp-Int    31-18-1    30-18-2
TOTAL OFFENSE PLAYS-YARDS    80-219    57-355
Fumble Returns-Yards    0-0    1-14
Punt Returns-Yards    0-0    2-35
Kickoff Returns-Yards    7-120    4-92
Interception Returns-Yards    2-1    1-0
Punts (Number-Avg)    5-27.8    2-33.0
Fumbles-Lost    3-3    0-0
Penalties-Yards    5-46    6-75
Possession Time    37:11    22:49
Third-Down Conversions    5 of 16    5 of 10
Fourth-Down Conversions    1 of 2    1 of 1
Red-Zone Scores-Chances    3-5    5-5
Sacks By: Number-Yards    2-14    7-60
RUSHING: Juniata-Derek Kramer 20-75; Zach McCaulley 13-46; Abram Mellinger 2-15; De'Sean Popley 1-2; Ryan Gaunt 1-0; Gino Ramires 10-minus 10; David Smyers 2-minus 19. Franklin & Marshall-John Kaschak 11-61; Jacob Kelly 8-32; T.J. Tynan 2-12; Alan Williams 2-9; TEAM 1-minus 2; John Harrison 3-minus 7.

PASSING: Juniata-Gino Ramires 14-24-0-105; David Smyers 2-2-0-minus 3; Brian Pugh 1-2-0-3; George Bivens 1-2-1-5; Andrew Gilford 0-1-0-0. Franklin & Marshall-John Harrison 14-21-2-198; E.J. Schneider 4-7-0-52; TEAM 0-2-0-0.

RECEIVING: Juniata-Abram Mellinger 6-53; Ronnie Shrift 5-29; Dominic Bornman 2-13; Mark Berguson 2-12; Ryan Gaunt 1-6; Trey Campbell 1-2; Derek Kramer 1-minus 5. Franklin & Marshall-Jay Ridinger 7-155; Jarrell Diggs 4-32; John Kaschak 3-31; Kevin O'Shea 1-11; Alan Williams 1-11; Peter Gumas 1-5; Brian Kelly 1-5.

INTERCEPTIONS: Juniata-Andrew Masullo 2-1. Franklin & Marshall-Chase Andreassi 1-0.

FUMBLES: Juniata-Gino Ramires 2-2; Derek Kramer 1-1. Franklin & Marshall-None.

SACKS (UA-A): Juniata-Brett Shippey 1-0; Matthew Walton 1-0. Franklin & Marshall-Kyle Wengerter 1-1; Kenny Provost 2-0; Sam Massaro 1-0; Jordan Studevan 0-1; Kurt Rogers 1-0; C.T. Marsh 1-0.

TACKLES (UA-A): Juniata-Kevin Gorman 5-1; Matthew Walton 5-0; Chris Moss 4-0; Shane Yuhas 4-0; Isiah Morgan 2-2; Noah Walstrom 3-0; Andrew Masullo 2-0; Derek Kramer 2-0; Josh Dutton 1-0; Josh Short 1-0; David Weiss 1-0; Ed Cooney 1-0; Grant Martin 1-0; Jason Marquis 1-0; Jordan Baird 1-0; Brandon Felus 1-0; Brett Shippey 1-0; Trey Campbell 0-1; Scott Andrews 0-1; Greg Nixon 0-1. Franklin & Marshall-Kenny Provost 7-2; Nick Barbieri 5-3; Sam Massaro 4-3; Ty Savastio 4-2; Kurt Rogers 5-0; Kyle Wengerter 4-1; Phil Barbieri 4-1; Donald Wiezik 3-1; Shane Gray 3-1; Troy Harrison 2-1; Mark Surma 2-0; C.T. Marsh 2-0; Lou Carothers 2-0; Drew Hutcheon 1-1; Mike Haines 1-1; James Freeman 1-1; T.J. Tynan 1-1; Scott Williams 1-1; Chad Tothero 1-1; Chris DeStefano 1-0; Sean Davis 1-0; Brian Kelly 1-0; Tyler Pollick 0-1; Tim Muller 0-1; Brian Low 0-1; Nicholas Hubner 0-1; Jonathan Struss 0-1; Jarrell Diggs 0-1; Jordan Studevan 0-1.