Reddy throws for 92 yards, rushes for score as well

RINDGE, N.H. (October 10, 2014) – A 16-play, 79-yard, fourth-quarter drive stalled out on the doorstep of the end zone on Friday night, which left the Franklin Pierce University sprint football team on the short end of a 14-7 loss to the University of Pennsylvania. Senior Derek Reddy (Natick, Mass.) threw for 92 yards and rushed for 55 and a score in defeat for the Ravens, while senior running back Mike Beamish led the way for Penn with 163 rushing yards and two touchdowns.

With the loss, Franklin Pierce falls to 1-3, while Penn improves to 3-1.

Trailing 14-0 with three seconds to play in the third quarter, Franklin Pierce took over at its own 20 to begin what would be the team's only scoring drive of the night. A botched snap on the final play of the third quarter sent the Ravens into the final stanza facing second-and-10 from their own 20, but Reddy hit junior wide receiver Michael Holdridge (Peru, N.Y.) for 20 yards to move the chains and set up first-and-10 at the Franklin Pierce 40. A pair of rushes by sophomore back Andrew Jean (Irvington, N.J.) got the Ravens near midfield, before an unsportsmanlike conduct penalty on the defense created first-and-10 at the Penn 36.

Two incompletions, a stuffed rush and a false-start penalty later, the drive appeared to have stalled, as Franklin Pierce now faced fourth-and-15 at the Penn 41. Reddy was able to elude pressure for long enough to hit freshman William Hart (Amherst, N.H.) for a 33-yard gain to the Penn eight-yard line to keep the drive alive. A chop-block penalty backed the Ravens up to the 21 and, after back-to-back incompletions, they faced third-and-goal at the 21. Reddy dropped back to pass, but took off on the left side after surveying the play. He evaded several Penn tacklers on a zig-zag, 21-yard scamper to the end zone to cap an 11-play, 80-yard drive and get Franklin Pierce on the board.

On the ensuing drive, Penn was able to burn 4:02 of the clock, but only picked up 10 yards before the drive stalled out at the Penn 40. Beamish, who also serves as punter for the Quakers, booted the ball 31 yards and sent it out-of-bounds at the Franklin Pierce 29. A 10-yard penalty on the kick set up first-and-10 for the Ravens, who now trailed 14-7, from their own 19 with 7:12 to play in the fourth quarter.

The Ravens steadily picked up chunks of yardage on the drive, as Jean and Reddy carried the load on the ground, while Reddy also added a pair of completions. Franklin Pierce was gifted a first down on third-and-six from its own 38, when Penn sophomore Chris Colavita was nailed for roughing the passer.

The biggest play of the drive came three plays later, on third-and-10. Reddy pitched the ball on the left side to Holdridge, who faked a run, but then pulled up to throw after the lateral. Holdridge was able to hit Hart downfield for 24 yards and a first down at the Penn 23. Four plays later, Reddy kept the ball himself and converted on fourth-and-three to set up first-and-10 at the 11-yard line.

Jean ripped off seven yards on the first-down play to take Franklin Pierce down to the four, and then added another yard on second down to set up third-and-two at the three. Out of timeouts and with less than 30 seconds remaining, Reddy spiked the ball to create fourth-and-two at the three. Reddy kept the ball himself on the fourth-down play and picked up a yard, but came up just short of the marker, as he was brought down at the Penn two. After the turnover on downs, the Quakers kneeled on the ball to run out the remaining clock and escape with the 14-7 victory.

Earlier in the night, after the first quarter went scoreless, Penn opened the scoring with a five-play, 37-yard touchdown drive in the second stanza. Forced to punt from his own end zone, Reddy got off a 29-yard punt, which was downed at the Franklin Pierce 37, which was where Penn took over. All five plays of the drive were handoffs to Beamish, who started with an 11-yard carry and added rushes of 10 yards and seven yards before capping the quick drive with a three-yard touchdown plunge.

The game remained 7-0 through halftime and again Penn was able to capitalize on strong field position to pick up another touchdown in the second quarter. Again Reddy had to punt from his own end zone, where he uncorked a 32-yard boot, which led to first-and-10 for Penn, with the drive starting at the Franklin Pierce 36. Again Beamish carried the ball on every play of the scoring drive, but he needed just three plays this time. He ripped off 10 yards on the first play of the drive, added three on the next and capped the three-play, 33-yard drive with a 20-yard touchdown run.

The teams generated identical amounts of offense on the day as, in a very symmetrical box score, each side collected 126 rushing yards and 116 passing yards to finish with 242 total yards of offense. Beamish had the most productive day for an individual, as he carried the load for the Penn offense. He picked up 163 yards and two touchdowns on 31 carries to finish as the game's leading rusher. On the other side, Jean, a week removed from a 298-yard performance, ran 28 times and picked up 71 yards for the Ravens. Reddy, given license to read the defense and keep the ball himself if need-be, ran 12 times to generate 55 yards and a score.

Through the air, Reddy went 7-for-24 for 92 yards, was sacked twice and was intercepted once. His counterpart, Penn sophomore Mike McCurdy, went 8-for-16 for 116 yards, but was sacked six times. Holdridge had the most catches for Franklin Pierce, with three, but Hart was the team's leading receiver, with two catches for 57 yards. Sophomore Mario del Cueto tallied three catches and 39 receiving yards for Penn.

Defensively, junior linebacker James Willette (Hoosick Falls, N.Y.) led the Ravens with nine tackles (three solo). Junior linebacker Stu Helgeson was the leading tackler for Penn, with seven.

The Ravens return to the field on Saturday, Oct. 18, when they travel to Mansfield. Kickoff is set for 4 p.m. at Karl Van Norman Field in Mansfield, Pa.

For more information on Franklin Pierce Athletics, please visit the official website of Franklin Pierce Athletics (http://athletics.franklinpierce.edu). Also be sure to follow the Ravens through the Department of Athletics' official Facebook page (http://www.facebook.com/FranklinPierceRavens), its YouTube channel (http://www.youtube.com/franklinpiercesports) and its Twitter feed (http://twitter.com/FPUathletics). Fans wishing to purchase Franklin Pierce sprint football apparel can do so at the Department of Athletics' online store (http://athletics.franklinpierce.edu/store).