Visiting Franklin College used a strong rushing attack and the Mount was held scoreless on two excellent scoring opportunities today as the Lions fell at home, 28-19. The Mount is now 3-1 in the HCAC, 5-1 overall while Franklin jumps into a first place tie in the conference with Defiance College, with both holding 3-0 marks. The Grizzlies are 5-1 overall. It was the Lions first loss in the conference since Oct. 1, 2005. The Mount travels to HCAC-rival Manchester College (3-3, 1-2 HCAC) next Saturday.
The Mount got on the scoreboard first today when Mike Lovell (West Chester, OH/Lakota West) bolted in from two yards out. Kevin Koch (Cincinnati, OH/Roger Bacon) made the PAT kick, giving the Lions a 7-0 lead. Franklin tied the game at 7-all just 2 1/2 minutes later when they scored on a 12-yard pass play. The Lions had two golden opportunites in their next few possessions to take a lead, perhaps by as much as a 10-point margin, but could not cash in. Koch missed a 36-yard field goal attempt, wide left, on the Lions' next possession and then later, Lovell was stopped near the goal line for no gain on first and goal from the one. On second and goal, Lions' quarterback Vince Palmer (Cincinnati, OH/Anderson) was stripped as he tried to bull into the end zone, with Franklin's Joe White recovering the ball.
The Grizzlies Chad Rupp threw another TD pass, this time from 13 yards, with 11:14 showing on the clock in the third quarter, to put his team up and after the PAT kick, Franklin led 14-7, a lead they never relinquished. Lovell scored again, on another two-yard run, but Koch missed the PAT with 6:06 left in the third quarter as the Lions cut the deficit to 14-13. They would get no closer as the Grizzlies parlayed a strong ground attack into two, second half TD runs. Palmer hooked up with wideout Tim Meiner (Hamilton, OH/Talawanda) on a 27-yard scoring play with 4:06 remaining to end the scoring in the game.
Palmer finished 18-of-30 for 295 yards, one TD and no interceptions while Lovell had 28 carries for 118 yards and two TDs on the ground. Jonathan Burrell (Louisville, KY/Seneca) led all receivers with five catches for 63 yards. Franklin College rushed for 243 yards on 43 carries (5.6 yards per carry) while Rupp, the leading passer in the HCAC, was 11-of-19 for 140 yards, two TDs and an interception. Nick Yahl (St. Mary's OH/Memorial) and teammate Rocky Siegel (Cincinnati, OH/Glen Este) led the Mount with 11 tackles each. Ricky Stautberg (Cincinnati, OH/Elder) had his HCAC-high sixth interception of the season. He is only two interceptions away from tying the Mount's single-season high of eight set in 1994 by Chad Unger.
