John Troxell's life as head coach of the Franklin & Marshall football team is more than just X's and O's. He has to recruit, nurture his players and, oh, yeah, be a husband and father.

Troxell's 5-year-old daughter dropped a bowl on her foot while trick-or-treating Friday night and had to be looked at by the team trainer after the Diplomats took on the Green Terror of McDaniel Saturday afternoon at Sponaugle-Williamson Field.

The news was good for both his daughter and his Dips, who shut out McDaniel, 20-0, to improve to 4-4 on the season and 3-3 in the Centennial Conference.

"[My daughter] is probably going to lose her toenail," Troxell said, "but she was a real trooper. She didn't even cry."

The Diplomats, who are undefeated at home this year, used the arm of freshman quarterback John Harrison and the hands of wide receiver George Eager to beat McDaniel (1-5, 2-6).

F&M did all their scoring in the first half, then hunkered down on defense to hold off the Terror.

On their second offensive possession, the Diplomats started on their 14 and ran a dozen plays before Matt Jenschke caught a 3-yard pass from Harrison to open the scoring.

The F&M defense took control on the change of possession and forced McDaniel to punt after just seven plays. Senior lineman Alex Pastore capped the defensive stand by sacking Terror quarterback Vinny Corona at the McDaniel 18.

The Dips got the ball at their own 35, and this time it took only one play — a little razzle-dazzle — to score. Harrison took the snap and handed off to John Kaschak, who handed off to Jarrell Diggs, who found a wide-open Eager for a 65-yard score. The extra-point attempt sailed wide right, and the score stood at 13-0 with 20 ticks left in the first quarter.

With time winding down in the first half, F&M faced a fourth-and-21 at the McDaniel 27, and Harrison attempted a pass into the end zone, but it fell incomplete, and the Terror took over on downs.

On McDaniel's first play, replacement quarterback Tom Massucci flared a pass out to the right that was picked by F&M safety Jeff Kellar, who bobbed and weaved all the way to the end zone.

Harrison completed 12 of 22 passes on the day for 175 yards and a touchdown. Eager caught seven passes for 138 yards and a touchdown.

For the Terror, Massucci went 14-for-33 with 144 yards and an interception.

"The better team won today," McDaniel coach Tim Keating said. "I was pleased with our overall effort. I think our guys actually took a step forward today."

For the Diplomats, the game was an important step toward their goal of finishing over .500.

"It has been awhile since we have had a winning season," Eager said. "We knew we had a better team than what our record has shown."

Troxell was pleased with his team's performance. "It is very important with as young a team as we have to lay a good foundation. One of our goals from the beginning was to have a winning record, so we still have that in our sights."

F&M plays its final home game at 1 p.m. next Saturday, Nov. 8, when the Diplomats host Johns Hopkins.