ALLENTOWN, PA -- Franklin & Marshall College defensive backs Paul Fields (Fr., Bergenfield, NJ/Bergenfield) and JC Capote (So., Ridgefield Park, NJ/Ridgefield) tackled Muhlenberg receiver Derek DiMattina at the Franklin & Marshall four yard line to cap a four down goal-line stand as the Diplomats shocked Muhlenberg 15-10 in the Centennial Conference football opener for both teams.

Leading 15-3 entering the fourth quarter, the Diplomats dodged a bullet at the 13:10 mark as Muhlenberg place-kicker Brian Hendershot's 40-yard field goal attempt fell three yards shot and one yard wide left to give F&M the ball at their own 23 yard line.

However, the Mules defense held as Muhlenberg forced the Diplomats back to the F&M 13 yard line with a rush for no gain, a tackle-for-loss of six yards and a four yard sack of Franklin & Marshall quarterback Jeff Harner (So., Mohrsville, PA/Schuylkill Valley) to force a punt. Facing fourth-and-20, punter Dan Eggertsson (Sr., Royal Palm, FL/Suncoast) bombed a 41 yard punt to the Muhlenberg 46 yard line as kick returner Mike McCurely fumbled and recovered the ball at the Mules 45 with 11:00 minutes left on the clock.

The Mules took advantage of the field position as Keith Shalvoy rushed up the middle for four yards on first down and Nick Rosetti completed an 11 yard pass to Shalvoy down the F&M 40 on third down to set Muhlenberg up in F&M territory with a first down. The rest of the drive was all Rosetti as he scampered nine yards to the F&M 31, hit Chris Giannini for a nine-yard gain on second down and connected with Antoine Williams for a 22-yard touchdown on first-and-10 from the F&M 22 to pull the Mules to within 15-10 with 8:52 left on the game clock.

The Diplomats failed to respond on their next possession going 18 yards on six plays while chewing up 3:27 before Eggertsson dropped a 42 yard punt at the Muhlenberg five yard line which Phil Gasker returned out to the 16 yard line to give the Mules back the ball with 5:25 left on the clock.

However, the Diplomats defense was too much for the red and gray Mules as Muhlenberg lost six yards on three plays as George Farrell (Fr., Hatfield, PA/North Penn) hammered Ross Tanner for a loss of six yards on first down.

After a 43 yard punt by Muhlenberg kicker Ryan Sassaman to the F&M 47, the Diplomats attempted to move the ball down the field with 4:31 remaining for an insurance score. Following back-to-back rushes for no gain by Curtis Varner (So., State College, PA/State College) and a timeout, Harner's pass attempt to wideout Derek Boyce (Jr., Lancaster, PA/Lampeter-Strasburg) was incomplete for bring out Eggertsson for a 42 yard punt to the Mules' 11. McCurley returned the kick out to the Muhlenberg 25 to set up a dramatic final drive with 2:44 left on the game clock in which Rosetti engineered a 13 play, 71 yard drive which ended in failure.

Facing third-and-10 from the F&M 49, Rosetti connected with Williams for a 36 yard gain down the F&M 15 for a first down. On first-and-ten, he hit Ross Tanner for a two yard gain before firing a seven yard pass to Giannini to move the ball down to the F&M 6. On third-and-one, Rosetti rushed two yards to the F&M four yard line for a first down. Facing the possibility of a touchdown, the F&M defense stiffened as Chris Stepien (Jr., Fairfield, NJ/West Essex) dropped Tanner for a three yard loss on first down, Rosetti's pass attempt to Giannini in the endzone was batted out of bounds on second down and Rosetti could only pick up one yard on third down to bring up fourth-and-goal from the six yard line with 7.6 remaining on the clock. Needing a big play to win the game, the Diplomats responded as a screen pass to DiMattina got Muhlenberg to the four yard line but no closer to the endzone as Franklin & Marshall escaped with the win.

The game did not appear to be headed towards an F&M win in the first quarter as the Mules held F&M to 14 total yards of offense in the first 15 minutes of play while taking a 3-0 lead behind a 29 yard field goal by Hendershot which capped an 11 play, 34 yard drive after a fumble by Harner at the F&M 46 on the Diplomats first drive of the game.

F&M responded to open the second quarter as Harner hit Boyce for a 44-yard gain down to the Muhlenberg 23 yard line to put the Diplomats into Mules' territory for the first time in the game. Varner rushed down the middle for five yards before Harner was sacked for loss of two yards and a pass attempt to Boyce fell incomplete to bring up fourth down. On fourth down, Eggertsson hit a 38-yard field goal to knot the game with 13:19 left in the first half.

The Mules had a bad break on their next possession as Rosetti led Muhlenberg 26 yards on four plays down to the F&M 18 yard line. Facing second-and-three from the 18, Rosetti attempted to complete a pass over the middle, but Farrell swatted the ball and grabbed the ball in mid-air at the 18 before scrambling and outrunning Rosetti for an 82 yard interception return, a touchdown and a 9-3 lead as Eggertsson's extra point attempt was blocked.

Overall, the Diplomats first half performance was adequate as the team rushed for a loss of 11 yards on 10 carries and completed four-of-12 passes for 63 yards for 52 net yards on 22 plays in the first half. Conversely, the Mules racked up 188 offensive yards on 42 yards, including 114 yards on 28 carries on the ground, with a 19:40 to 10:20 advantage in time of possession as Muhlenberg received the better of play in the opening half of the contest.

Neither team would score until the final two minutes of the third quarter as Harner dove into the endzone for a one yard touchdown run to cap a five play, 38 yard scoring drive for a 15-3 lead with 1:31 left in the quarter. Muhlenberg kept the Diplomats' lead to fewer than two touchdowns, however, as Harner's pass attempt on the two-point conversion was picked off in the endzone by Justin Adair to set up the dramatic conclusion to the game.

On defense, defensive lineman Chris White (Sr., Vestal, NY/Vestal) led the way with nine tackles, including a tackle-for-loss of one yard, while Matt Capone (Sr., Scarsdale, NY/Scarsdale) and Tim Barry (Jr., Madison, NJ/Madison) tacked on six tackles. For Muhlenberg, Mark Bennett made nine tackles, recorded a sack for loss of four yards, two tackles for loss of seven yards and a fumble recovery to lead the Mules in the loss.

Overall, the Mules dominated the offensive statistics beating F&M in first downs (19-to-six), rushing attempts (49-to-27), net yards rushing (177-to-17), net yards passing (198-to-112), total offensive plays (86-to-51), net yards (375-to-129), kickoff returns (three-for-122 to two-for-16), third down conversions (seven-of-19 to one-of-14), sacks (four to one) and time of possession (36:11 to 23:49).

The key to the game for F&M was the punting of Eggertsson as he connected on 11 punts for 471 yards (42.8 average) with a long of 62 yards and four punts inside the Mules 20 yard line.

Franklin & Marshall (4-1, 1-0 Centennial Conference) will continue the season on October 9 at home versus Johns Hopkins University. Game time is set for 1:00 p.m. at Sponaugle-Williamson Field.