GETTYSBURG, PA - Quarterback Jeff Harner (So., Mohrsville, PA/Schuylkill Valley) threw for two touchdowns and ran for a third to lead Franklin & Marshall College past Gettysburg College 38-20 in Centennial Conference (CC) football action.

Harner connected with Derek Boyce (Jr., Lancaster, PA/Lampeter-Strasburg) and Robert Donofrio (So., Sea Girt, NJ/Wall Township) through the air and also found the end zone on a 14-yard keeper to help the Diplomats (7-3, 4-2 CC) earn a share of the 2004 CC championship. No fewer than five teams (Muhlenberg, McDaniel, Franklin & Marshall, Dickinson and Johns Hopkins) in the seven-team league tied for the championship with identical conference records of 4-2.

Tailback Scott Stephen (Sr., Glen Rock, NJ/Glen Rock) added 162 rushing yards and a 24-yard touchdown run in the win, the Diplomats' third straight over the Bullets (1-9, 1-5 CC). Donofrio finished with a team-best four receptions for 92 yards, including a 49-yard touchdown catch to give the Diplomats a 24-7 lead midway through the third quarter.

Overall, the title marks the sixth (1986, 1987, 1988, 1993, 1995) Centennial Conference crown in Franklin & Marshall football history and is the 13th Conference title following Middle Atlantic Conference championships in 1964, 1968, 1971, 1972, 1973, 1974 and 1976.

For Gettysburg, Joe Fricchione, Mike Schwalband Joe Gossweiler contributed rushing touchdowns as Gettysburg matched a single-season program record with nine losses.

The Diplomats, who never trailed in the game, broke the game open in the third quarter with a pair of touchdowns after Dan Eggertsson (Sr., Royal Palm, FL/Suncoast) hit a 26-yard field goal in the second quarter for a 10-7 lead at halftime.

F&M took the ball on the second half kickoff and marched down the field on the legs of Stephen who carried seven times for 61 yards, including a 24 yard scamper on second-and-eight into the Bullets' end zone to cap an eight play 63 yard drive for a 17-7 lead with 11:14 left in the quarter.

The Gettysburg offense could not must much against the Diplomats starting at their own 34 yard line as Franklin & Marshall held the Bullets to five yards on three plays before om Pettit punted 24 yards to the F&M 37 where the ick was downed.

F&M took advantage of the field position as Stephen carried for gains of two and four yards before Harner hit fullback Rick Dunlap (So., Boothwyn, PA/Garnet Valley) for an eight-yard gain and a first down at the Bullets' 49-yard line. On the next snap, Harner went to Donofrio for a 49 yard TD for a 27-7 lead with 8:08 left in the quarter to cap a four play, 63-yard drive.

The touchdown marked the eighth 49+-yard touchdown of the year by Harner and the Diplomats, and third to Donofrio, as F&M previously connected for long TDs against Oberlin (59, 98, 52), Johns Hopkins (79, 55), Hobart (49) and Dickinson (80).

Gettsyburg attempted to rally as Bullets' quarterback Joe Gossweiler led the team 35 yards on 13 plays down to the F&M 35 yard line. However, F&M's defense held as Gossweiler's pass attempt to Bill Corarulo on fourth-and-12 fell incomplete to give the Diplomats the ball on their own 35-yard line with 1:58 left in the quarter.

Stephen closed out the half picking up gains of seven, 14, and eight yards before Dunlap broke through the lien for a four-yard gain to the Gettysburg 32. On first-and-10 with seconds left on the clock, Harner hit Donofrio for an 18-yard gain down to the Gettysburg 14 as the clock expired in the quarter.

Harner completed the eight play, 65 yard drive on the first snap of the fourth quarter as he sliced through the Bullets' defense for a 14-yard touchdown run and a 31-7 lead with 14:53 left in the game,

The teams exchanged drives as Gettysburg went three and out before punting to the F&M 11 yard line, and the Diplomats engineered a six play, 13 yard drive before Eggertsson punted to the Gettysburg 39 yard line with 9:24 left on the clock.

The Bullets used the field position as Gossweiler completed three passes for 25 yards and rushed for four yards, while Olufemi Adetiba scampered for two yards to set Gettysburg up at the F&M 16. Following back-to-back incomplete passes, Gossweiler rushed 16 yards on a keeper for a touchdown to cut the Diplomats lead to 31-13 with 7:27 remaining. Needing points to cut into F&M's lead and have a chance at victory, Gettysburg attempted a two-point conversion that was ruled incomplete as the Bullets were called for illegal touching.

Gettysburg next attempted an onside kick which F&M recovered at the Bullets' 49 to set the Diplomats up in good field position. Behind third-string quarterback Kyle Turner (Fr., Haddonfield, NJ/Haddonfield), the Diplomats moved 40 yards on 10 plays before Jake Gomolinski (Fr., Middletown, NY/Pine Bush Central) was stopped for a loss of one yard back to the Gettysburg nine yard line to hand the Bullets back the ball with 3:05 left on the game clock.

Gossweiler rallied his team passing for 91 yards before Schwalb broke the plain of the goal on first and goal from the one yard line to pull to within 31-20 following the extra point with 1:21 left on the clock.

The Bullets again attempted an onside kick, which they recovered at their own 46-yard line, but Gettysburg was called for kick interference negating the play. On the following kickoff from the 20-yard line, the Diplomats fell on the ball at the Gettysburg 34 with 1:16 showing on the clock.

However, Adam Fulmer picked off Turner on the first play from scrimmage at the Gettysburg six yard line as the Bullet returned the pick out to the 12 yard line, before a personal foul brought the ball back to the six.

Gettysburg attempted to move the ball against the Diplomats, but three straight passes fell incomplete before Gossweiler connected for a 15 yard completion our to the Bullets' 21 for a first down. On first-and-10, Gossweiler was sacked by John Warnick (So., Rockville, MD/Good Counsel) at the 16 yard line as the Gettysburg quarterback fumbled back to the Bullets' nine where Tim Barry (Jr., Madison, NJ/Madison) recovered the loose ball with 30 seconds left in the game.

F&M added to their lead on the first play from scrimmage as running back John Weber (Fr., Harrison, NY/Rye Country Day) went through the middle of the defensive line and into the end zone for a touchdown and the 38-20 final score.

The Diplomats began to put the game away in the first half as linebacker Joe LoCastro (Jr., Cherry Hill, NJ/Camden Catholic) picked off a pass by Gossweiler at the Gettysburg 30 and returned it down to the 24-yard line to set up F&M's offense with 9:22 left in the opening quarter.

Dunlap rushed for a pickup of six yards, and Stephen leaned forward for a yard, before Harner hit Boyce for a 17-yard touchdown to cap a three play, 24-yard drive with 8:08 left in the quarter.

Following a stop of the Diplomats on fourth-and-one at the F&M 43, the Bullets cashed in on their field position using three plays for 43 yards and a touchdown as Fricchione rushed 31 yards for a TD with 3:56 left in the quarter.

Neither team could crack the scoring column until Eggertsson drilled a 26-yard field goal with 12:16 left in the second quarter drive following a fumble by the Bullets at the Gettysburg 32 to close out an eight play, 23 yard for a 10-7 lead at halftime.

Harner completed 11-of-20 attempts for 141 yards, while Doug Hiltner (Sr., Margate, NJ/Atlantic City) connected on one-of-three attempts and Turner completed one-of-two as the Diplomats' quarterbacks combined to complete 13-of-25 for 149 yards and two touchdowns.

In receiving, Donofrio pulled in four balls for 92 yards, tight end Matt Mondonedo (So., Silver Spring, MD/James Hubert Blake) caught three passes for 16 yards, Boyce pulled in two passes for 10 yards and Dunlap caught two passes for 14 yards while John Mervin (Sr., Yardley, PA/Hun School) and Stephen caught passes for five and three yards, respectively.

On the ground, F&M racked up 264 rushing yards, including 37 on four carries by tailback Curtis Varner (So., State College, PA/State College), as the Diplomats totaled 413 yards of total offense.

Defensively, linebacker George Farrell (Fr., Hatfield, PA/North Penn) had seven solo stops, a tackle-for-loss of four yards, one fumble forced and a sack for loss of four yards to lead the effort as the Diplomats held the Bullets to 129 rushing yards and 161 passing yards for 290 yards of total offense.

Overall, Stephen was the story of the day as he moved into second place in single season rushes (204) and raised his career numbers to 619 carries for 2,231 yards as he ranks second in both categories in Franklin & Marshall College history as he is only the second player to reach 2,000 rushing yards.

In addition, Eggertsson connected on four punts for 144 yards (36.0 avg.) with a long of 40 yards as he finishes the season with 59 punts for 2,401 yards. Historically, his season average of 40.7 yards per punt establishes a new school record erasing the previous mark of 39.9 set by Jon Bushey '97 (51 for 2,035 yards) in 1996. For his career, he finishes with 152 for 5,823 yards (38.3 avg.) as he places second in punting average behind Bushey (38.4) and fourth in total punts.

In addition, the Diplomats reset two team records. In punting, this year's team averaged 40.8 yards per punt (60 for 2,448 yards) to eclipse the previous F&M season record of 39.01 held by the 1996 Diplomats. Further, the team finished with 2,342 yards of passing offense to erase the previous mark of 2,189 yards held by the 1995 team.

F&M's win over Gettysburg was part of NCAA history, as the Centennial Conference became only the third league to finish with five champions.

In 1976, the Twin Rivers Conference (now known as the Upper Midwest Athletic Conference) had five champions - Concordia-St. Paul, Loras, Maranatha Baptist, Northwestern (Minn.) and Northwestern (Tenn.). In 1991, the Southern Intercollegiate Athletic Conference had a five-way tie for the championship with Alabama A&M, Clark Atlanta, Morehouse, Fort Valley State and Tuskegee.

The five champions mark the third time in the 22-year history of the Conference that more than two teams shared the title (1983, 2002) and the third time that teams have shared the trophy with two conference losses (1983, 1993).

The odd finish began as Johns Hopkins (8-2, 4-2 CC) knocked off McDaniel (6-3, 4-2 CC), 12-9. The Green Terror entered the day as the only team that controlled its destiny. The Blue Jays victory created a three-team tie among Johns Hopkins, McDaniel and Muhlenberg (8-2, 4-2 CC). The Mules defeated non-conference foe Moravian, 28-14, in a game that had playoff implications.

Dickinson (6-4, 4-2 CC) joined the fray when the Red Devils upended Ursinus, 10-7, to make it a four-team tie. Franklin & Marshall (7-3, 4-2 CC) made it a five-team draw when the Diplomats defeated Gettysburg, 38-20.

Although all five teams will be recognized as co-champions, the Centennial Conference has only one automatic bid to the NCAA Division III championship tournament.

The Conference's first tiebreaker for the bid is head-to-head competition. The five teams all finished 2-2 against each other. The No. 2 criteria is the team's record vs. teams in descending order of standing. Since all five teams defeated Gettysburg and Ursinus, the Conference Office had to go to strength of schedule.

Using the NCAA Division III championships committee's formula, Muhlenberg (10.30) edged Johns Hopkins (10.20), McDaniel (9.67), Franklin & Marshall (9.20) and Dickinson (9.00) for the automatic bid to the tourney. The difference was the Mules' victory over Moravian, combined with additional points awarded to Muhlenberg for its win over Union, after the Dutchmen defeated Rensselaer, 18-13, to finish the season at 6-3 (.667).

Franklin & Marshall will now await word from the Eastern College Athletic Conference (ECAC) regarding a possible bid to the league's postseason Southwest Bowl game. Selections will be announced at noon on November 15.