From the
Gettysburg College Website:
Bullets Fall in Shootout at F&M, 56-38
Box ScoreLANCASTER, Pa. – Sophomore running back Ryan Murray rushed for four of his five touchdowns in the fourth quarter, when Franklin & Marshall outscored Gettysburg 28-7 as the Diplomats defeated the Bullets in a shootout at Sponaugle-Williamson Field, winning 56-38 in a Centennial Conference game and the regular season finale for both teams.
Trailing 31-28 heading into the final quarter, F&M (4-6, 4-4 CC) went ahead for good on Murray’s third TD of the game, a soaring 1-yard dive with 7:49 left that made it 42-38. The Diplomats scored two more times to win going away following a Gettysburg punt and an interception.
The game featured 1,023 total yards of offense, with the Diplomats out-gaining Gettysburg 544-479.
Gettysburg (6-4, 5-3 CC) played most of the game without senior tailback
Tom Sturges (Ridgefield, Conn./Ridgefield) who left the game with an injury in the first quarter after rushing for 12 yards on four carries.
The Bullets will now await a possible ECAC bowl game bid. Pairings will be announced Monday.
Freshman
Jamel Mutunga (Bel Air, Md./Bel Air) rushed for 114 yards and two touchdowns on 21 carries for Gettysburg while sophomore quarterback
Matt Flynn (Northfield, N.J./Mainland Regional) threw for 260 yards and one touchdown. Freshman receiver
Brian Betley (Mt. Laurel, N.J./Lenape) caught three passes for 98 yards and a touchdown.
Flynn and senior receiver
Matt Welsh (Lafayette Hill, Pa./St. Joseph’s Prep) each reached a milestone for the Bullets. Flynn exceeded 3,000 career passing yards and Welsh, who caught four passes for 53 yards, went over 1,000 yards receiving for his career.
Murray finished with 240 yards on 40 carries and scored F&M’s final five touchdowns. Kyle Turner passed for 290 yards for the Dips, who had a pair of 100-yard receivers. George Eager caught 10 passes for 137 yards while Jay Ridinger had five receptions for 110 yards and a pair of touchdowns.
On the game’s opening drive, the Bullets drove to the F&M-18, setting up a 36-yard field goal attempt from junior
Josh Huson (McLean, Va./McLean). But the snap was high, and holder Mike Lynch’s (Richboro, Pa./La Salle College) desperation pass fell incomplete.
It took the Diplomats just five plays to capitalize. A 53-yard pass from Turner to Eager set up F&M at the Bullet-19, and on the next play Turner hit Ridinger crossing the middle of the end zone to give the Dips a 7-0 lead with 9:29 left in the opening quarter.
After the teams traded punts, Mutunga provided the Bullets with a big spark off the bench. On his first collegiate carry, Mutunga found a hole at the line of scrimmage and burst down the right sideline 69 yards before an F&M defender caught up with him at the Diplomat-10. Two plays later, Curcio took a pitch-out left, made a defender miss, and trotted into the end zone for his seventh touchdown of the season.
F&M threw the dice on its next possession, faking a punt from its own 39. But the gamble failed as punter Jeff Hogan’s pass that would have resulted in a first down was dropped.
This time Gettysburg took advantage of a mistake, as Flynn hit Betley in stride for a 44-yard touchdown pass on a third-and-15. The second of Huson’s five PAT’s gave the Bullets a 14-7 lead with 1:38 remaining in the first quarter.
Another long Turner-to-Eager pass sparked F&M’s next scoring drive, with the two hooking up on a 42-yard play that put the ball at the Gettysburg-15. Three plays later, Turner hit Eager for the fourth time in a row, finding the sophomore for a 7-yard scoring strike on the first play of the second quarter to make it a 14-14 game.
The offensive fireworks continued on the ensuing possession, with Betley making a beautiful over-the-shoulder catch at the Diplomat-9 on a 44-yard bomb from Flynn. Mutunga gobbled up the final nine yards on three carries, thrusting the ball over the goal line from 1 yard out for his first collegiate touchdown as Gettysburg went up 21-14 with 12:12 on the clock.
After the Dips turned the ball over on downs at the Gettysburg-25, cornerback Barry Lovett gave F&M the ball right back two plays later. Lovett hauled in a tipped pass at the Bullet-37 and returned it 11 yards, and a Gettysburg personal foul put the ball at the Bullet-12. However, F&M was unable to capitalize, as a Paul Sousa 30-yard field goal bounced off the top of the right upright.
Gettysburg answered with a 13-play, 80-yard drive that chewed up 5:39. Flynn went 5-for-5 for 65 yards during the march, with the Bullets capping the drive with a trick play. On a second-and-goal from the 7, Flynn rolled out to his right, then passed a lateral across the field to senior tackle
James Russell (Amityville, N.Y./Amityville Memorial), who ran into the end zone untouched for his second collegiate touchdown, giving the Bullets a 28-14 lead 31 seconds before the intermission.
Russell also had a 19-yard touchdown run on Nov. 4 of last season in a 30-14 loss to Dickinson.
The Dips received the second-half kickoff and drove 45 yards to the Gettysburg-18, but F&M turned the ball over on downs following an incomplete pass on fourth-and-10. However, the Bullets went three-and-out, and Turner made it a one-possession game when he launched a 45-yard touchdown pass to Ridinger, drawing F&M to within seven at 28-21 with 8:57 to go in the third quarter.
A 49-yard pass from Flynn to senior wing
Sean Incremona (Selden, N.Y./Centereach) on the second play of the ensuing drive put the Bullets at the F&M-17. The drive stalled at the Diplomat-13, but Huson drilled a 29-yard field goal to push Gettysburg’s lead to 31-21 with 5:39 left in the third quarter.
Later in the quarter, F&M took over at the 50 following a punt. On the next play, Murray found a hole up the middle and outran several defenders for a 50-yard touchdown, kicking off a 35-7 F&M run as the Dips made it 31-28 with 3:28 to go in the third.
A Gettysburg fumble led to F&M’s next score. Mutunga was stood up at the line at the Bullet-40, then had the ball stripped from behind by George Farrell. The Diplomats recovered the fumble, and seven plays later, Murray went up the middle on the first play of the fourth quarter to give his team its first lead (35-31) since it was 7-0.
The Bullets answered with a seven-play, 69-yard drive, with Mutunga capping it off with his second touchdown of the day, this time going in from 7 yards out to put Gettysburg back on top, 38-35, with 11:40 on the clock. Flynn highlighted the drive with a 43-yard run, perching Gettysburg at the F&M-13.
Another big pass from Turner sparked F&M on its go-ahead drive, hitting Ridinger with a 41-pass on the ensuing possession to put the Dips at the Bullet-26. F&M then went to the ground, with Murray peeling off a 9- followed by an 8-yard run to give his team a first-and-goal at the 9.
Senior linebacker
Harold Barton (Somerdale, N.J./Sterling) stopped Turner at the 1 on a quarterback keeper, but the Dips elected to go for it on a fourth down. But Murray’s soaring dive into the end zone put F&M on top 42-38 with 7:49 to go.
After forcing the Bullets to punt, the Diplomats continued to give the ball to Murray, who took the handoff six times for 52 yards on the ensuing possession. Murray capped an 8-play, 67-drive with a 5-yard touchdown run as F&M pushed its lead to 11 (49-38) with 3:57 left.
After Flynn was intercepted by Jeff Kellar, the Dips put the game away by scoring on their fifth straight drive. Murray ran the ball six straight times for 31 yards and went into the end zone for the final time from 3 yards out to set the final score.
Sophomore linebacker
Tim Widdoes (Newark, Del./St. Mark’s) led all players with 13 tackles while senior linebacker
James Holubowich (Mineola, N.Y./Mineola) made seven stops.
