COLLEGEVILLE, Pa. – Ursinus broke open a 7-all halftime tie by holding Franklin & Marshall without a touchdown in the second half en route to a 21-9 win over the Diplomats at Patterson Field on Saturday afternoon in Centennial Conference football play.
Ursinus (1-2, 1-1 Centennial) held F&M (0-3, 0-2 Centennial) to just 67 yards of total offense in the first half and limited them to just 210 yards of total offense in the first win of the 2011 season.
Sophomore running back Bryan Ellis (Owings Mills, Md./McDonogh School) rushed for a game-high 94 yards, which put him over 1,000 yards in his career in just two years. Ellis rushed for those 94 yards on 22 carries with a score. Sophomore quarterback Chris Curran (Ocean City, N.J./Ocean City) was 17-for-27 for 209 yards and a score, with the lone TD pass being a 79-yard scoring strike to senior wide receiver Al Desiderio (Philadelphia, Pa./Roman Catholic). Desiderio caught six passes for 138 yards, moving to second all-time in receiving yards in school history.
Defensively, senior linebacker Chris Salaga (Bordentown, N.J./Florence) and senior defensive end Sean Whelan (Doylestown, Pa./Central Bucks East) each had nine tackles, with Whelan picking up a sack and two tackles for losses. Senior defensive back Mike Rissmiller (Hummelstown, Pa./Lower Dauphin).
For F&M, freshman running back Lamont Jackson had 48 yards rushing, with senior quarterback John Harrison throwing for 80 yards on 16-for-26 passing. Freshman receiver Jordan Zachery caught seven passes for 57 yards and had F&M's lone score.
After a scoreless first quarter, Ursinus took a 7-0 lead with 3:59 left in the second quarter on a 79 yard scoring pass from Curran to Desiderio giving the Bears the 7-0 lead. F&M would answer back on a 10-play, 66-yard drive that took 3:38 on a 13-yard scoring pass to Zachery from sophomore quarterback E.J. Schneider, with just 38 seconds left.
Ursinus quickly drove down the field after the Diplomats score, but, a 46-yard field goal attempt from sophomore Michael Bennett (Maple Glen, Pa./La Salle College) went wide right.
The go-ahead score in the third quarter was set up by Rissmiller's interception of a Schneider pass at the Diplomat 32-yard line with 5:42 left. From there, Ursinus scored in two plays, with Ellis running for a 13-yard score with 5:11 left and a 14-7 lead.
Ursinus would tack on another score with 10:03 left in the game on a three-yard run by junior running back Teddy Conrad (Doylestown, Pa./Central Bucks West) which ended a 14-play, 80 yard drive. F&M would get two points on a safety as on a 4th-and-1 from the Ursinus 32 yard line, a snap on a punt sailed out the back of the end zone with 2:39 left. F&M then got the ball following the free kick, but, turned the ball over on downs to end the game.
Ursinus will host McDaniel next Saturday.