LANCASTER, Pa. – The Franklin & Marshall football team won its fourth straight Centennial-MAC Bowl Series game with a 42-28 victory over Stevenson inside Shadek Stadium on Saturday afternoon. The win marked the fifth consecutive season that the Diplomats have played in a bowl game and also secured a winning record for the squad that rallied to three in a row, and four of its last five, to close the season.

The Diplomats got contributions in all facets of the game as the team matched its highest scoring output of the season, tying the mark from its final regular season contest. The Diplomats got two touchdowns through the air and two more on the ground, including Keshon Farmer's touchdown run to open the scoring which gave him sole possession of the program's career rushing touchdowns record with 31. The defense also picked off four passes and came up with five sacks. Calvin Krippner was the named the game MVP after returning an interception for a touchdown and scooping another fumble and returning it for his second defensive touchdown on the day. Peyton Snopek additionally tied the program's single-game record with four sacks on Saturday.

First Quarter (F&M 16, Stevenson 0)

Much like a week ago, the Diplomats scored early and often as they took command of the game from the start. After getting the Mustangs to punt on their initial drive, the snap was botched and the Diplomats took over at the opponent's 27 yard line. That left Farmer to break the record on his first carry of the day as his 27-yard touchdown carry put the Diplomats up 7-0 just under four minutes into the game.

After getting another stop defensively, F&M's two-headed rushing attack featured Jermaine Conyers who got the drive started with a 53-yard run down to the Stevenson three. Following a pass interference call in the end zone, Conyers plunged in from two yards out to make it 13-0 with 8:18 remaining in the first quarter. F&M's first interception of the day came from Dan DiBeneditto, setting up an eventual 16-0 lead for the Diplomats following Laurence Miller's 33-yard field goal attempt.

Second Quarter (F&M 22, Stevenson 7)

Jack Rodenberger had a very strong day punting the football as he landed four of his six punts inside the 20 and averaged 42.2 yards per attempt. After pinning the Mustangs inside their 15, Krippner made his first splash play of the afternoon with an 18-yard interception return for a touchdown. The Diplomats tried unsuccessfully for the two-point conversion but were still up 22-0 at the time. Stevenson did get on the board right before the half as it went for a nine play, 70-yard drive with 5:53 remaining before the break.

Third Quarter (F&M 36, Stevenson 21)

The Mustangs tried to seize the momentum early in the second half with a 74-yard touchdown drive on their first possession of the half, but the Diplomats took the momentum right back as Conyers ran for 25 yards on a pair of carries before catching a pass that was tipped up into the air before he ran 47 yards to put his team back up by three scores. On the very next drive, Stevenson was faced with a third and long before Snopek came away with one of his four sacks, stripping the quarterback before Krippner picked up the loose ball and returned it 23 yards for his second touchdown of the afternoon. The Mustangs did get a touchdown late in the third quarter to bring the game back within two possessions, but the Diplomats quickly thwarted any further thoughts of a comeback during the fourth quarter.

Fourth Quarter (F&M 42, Stevenson 28)

With Stevenson looking to get back into the contest, the Diplomats got an interception from Thomas Downs before forcing the Mustangs to turn it over on downs during their next possession. After the visitors unsuccessfully faked a punt, the Diplomats punished that mistake as Jakob Hoffman found Drew Benfatti for a 28 yard touchdown reception to match the team's season high in points. With F&M holding a 21-point lead and just 5:29 to play, Stevenson did get one of those needed touchdowns on a 78-yard strike, but came no closer as the pass defense came up huge during the final stretches of the game before Snopek tied the school record for sacks in a game to force one last turnover on downs during his final snap of the season.

F&M Notable Performances

In addition to Krippner's MVP performance, several Diplomats shined throughout the bowl victory. Kell Hall, Downs, DeBeneditto, and Krippner all had interceptions for the defense which forced five turnovers. The defensive backs also broke up 12 passes, headlined by Colin Lavigne's five deflections. In addition to Snopek's record-tying four sacks, Jake Perloski also had a sack as the F&M defense was constantly in the backfield. The Diplomats had 10 tackles for loss, featuring 4.5 from Snopek as he led the team with 10 tackles. Snopek also forced a fumble in addition to his eight solo stops.

As a unit, Franklin & Marshall's defense held the top-ranked passing unit in the Middle Atlantic Conference to just a 46 percent completion percentage as the Mustangs threw the ball 62 times trying to chase down the Diplomats all afternoon. The Diplomats also limited Stevenson to just 7-of-19 on third down and 1-of-5 on fourth down.

Although the defense grabbed the headlines, the offense had one of its best days this season as Farmer and Conyers ran for a combined 193 yards out of the backfield. Both players had a rushing touchdown as the Diplomats racked up nearly 32 minutes of possession time. Quarterbacks Logan Clouse and Hoffman each went 4-of-7 on the afternoon. Hoffman threw a pair of touchdowns as both QBs had passes that went for 47 yards during the victory. No player caught more than three passes, but Ben Moir, Conyers, and Benfatti each racked up at least 40 yards receiving.

Up Next

The Diplomats officially wrapped up the 2021 season with a winning record to finish with their ninth winning record during the last 10 seasons under head coach John Troxell. The Diplomats have posted a winning record 11 times under Troxell. With plenty of momentum to build on as the team won five of its final six contests, the program will also look to celebrate the 30 seniors on their year's team who helped F&M to 20 victories during its last three competitive seasons.