F&M falls in ECAC shootout

Washington & Jefferson's Gino Rometo passed for 377 yards and five touchdowns on 24 completions to lead Washington & Jefferson over Franklin & Marshall 54-41 Saturday in the ECAS Southwest Bowl in Washington, Pa.

John Harrison threw for 422 yards and five touchdowns for the Diplomats (6-5).

Rometo had 255 yards and four touchdowns in the first half. Two of the four touchdown tosses were to Jordan Roycroft, who had six catches for 132 yards in the first half.

Roycroft finished the day with 207 yards on 12 receptions. He added a third touchdown late in the fourth quarter to put the Presidents (9-2) out of reach.

The Presidents' quick-strike offense piled up precisely 500 yards on the afternoon. Tim McNerney rushed 24 times for 147 yards and three scores. F&M gained 438 yards.

Harrison wrapped up his junior season by becoming the Centennial Conference's (CC) all-time leading passer with 7,325 yards. He also reset the CC record for career 400-yard passing games with the third of his career. He is now tied for the CC career record of 300-yard passing days having hit that plateau for the eighth time in his career

Harrison hit Jarrell Diggs 11 times for 116 yards and a touchdown. He also found Jay Ridinger 10 times for 105 yards and a pair of touchdowns.

Michael Deutch had nine receptions for 86 yards and a pair of scores, while running back John Kaschak caught 10 passes for 86 yards. Kashcak rushed for 40 yards on 15 carries and a touchdown.

Ridinger finished his career ranked fourth all-time at F&M in receiving yards with 2,212 yards, receptions with 194, and touchdowns receptions with 22.

Deutch ends his career with 88 catches, tied for 15th in F&M history along with Bob Kaithern. The tight end recorded 1,155 career yards finishing exactly 100 yards behind F&M's top tight end in the category, Mike Sernatinger. His 18 touchdowns, rank sixth in F&M history and is tops among F&M and CC tight ends.

The Presidents led 28-14 when frosh Phil Barbieri put the Diplomats back in business with his fourth interception of the season. He snagged a Rometo pass on F&M's 35 and managed 32 yards on the return.

Harrison hit Deutch on consecutive pass plays to end the drive and make it 28-21 with slightly less than four minutes in the first half.

W&J quickly responded as Rometo hit Roycroft for the second touchdown of the game between the pair, extending the President's lead to 34-21.

Rometo hit Alex Baroffio with a 35-yard strike strike, making it 40-21 at the half. W&J extended its lead to 47-21 on the first series of the second half.

F&M rallied for a pair of Harrison-to-Ridinger touchdowns in the final five minutes of the third quarter to make it 47-34.

C.T. Marsh recorded a pair of sacks, running his streak with at least a half sack to 10 games. He wrapped up the season with a total of 11.

Shane Gray led the Diplomats with 11 tackles and a pass breakup. Sam Massaro recorded 10 stops.