GETTYSBURG, Pa. – Aaron Rascoe scored three rushing touchdowns to lead the Franklin & Marshall football team to a 31-13 win at Gettysburg on Saturday afternoon during the regular season finale. With those three touchdowns, Rascoe finished the regular season with 14 rushing touchdowns, tying the 113-year older school record that was originally set by Elliott Weller during the 1909 season.

Rascoe scored his final two touchdowns during the fourth quarter as the Diplomats scored 28 of their 31 points during the second and fourth quarters. The F&M defense dominated the other two quarters, shutting out the Bullets during those periods.

First Quarter (Franklin & Marshall 3, Gettysburg 0)

The only scoring of the opening quarter came when the Diplomats went 64 yards on eight plays before being stopped just short of the goal line on third down. The big play on that drive was a 41-yard connection between first-years Ty Tremba and Gary Lewis that set up a first-and-goal on the Gettysburg nine. The Diplomats were stopped on a broken-up third down pass play before gaining the early lead on Laurence Miller's 19-yard field goal.

Second Quarter (Franklin & Marshall 17, Gettysburg 7)

Franklin & Marshall scored its first touchdown of the afternoon early in the second. Just shy of midfield, Tremba found Matt Hanna for a 21-yard reception that had 15 yards tacked on for roughing the passer. The very next play, Tremba found Will Higson for the final 16 yards on the only touchdown of the afternoon that did not involve Rascoe toting the ball across the goal line. The first of those Rascoe touchdowns came with 1:44 remaining in the half as he carried six yards for his first score, but the Bullets answered with a touchdown of their own on a 68-yard reception with just seven seconds remaining in the half.

Third Quarter (Franklin & Marshall 17, Gettysburg 3)

Defense ruled the day in the third quarter as the Bullets had minus four yards of offense thanks in large part to an offensive pass interference call shortly after a Gettysburg defensive interception. After that drive that went 19 yards backwards, F&M was en route to setting up its third touchdown drive of the afternoon.

Fourth Quarter (Franklin & Marshall 31, Gettysburg 10)

The Diplomats went 76 yards on that aforementioned scoring drive and had 64 of those yards during the third quarter. Rascoe took the second play of the fourth quarter off the right side found his way back to the end zone on a 12-yard run just 55 seconds into the final quarter. He capped his big afternoon on the very next F&M drive with a three-yard run. The big play of that drive was a 31-yard reception from Jack Sutton after a nice gain from Trey Glass moved the ball into Bullet territory. Once again, Gettysburg's touchdown came very late in the fourth as the Bullets scored with 3:32 remaining in regulation to set the score at 31-17 before the Diplomats ran out the remaining time.

Key Stats & Performers

Rascoe run the ball 19 times for 93 yards on Saturday, helping the Diplomats gained 386 yards of total offense. Ty Tremba threw for another 249 yards in the air, including his touchdown to Higson. Bolstered by his 41-yard catch, Lewis led the receiving corps with six catches and 100 yards. That output marked the second time this season he went over the century mark after hauling in a season-best 106 receiving yards against Muhlenberg.

Bobby Buchys led the defense with eight tackles. His day featured seven solo stops and two sacks. The F&M defense got to the quarterback five times on Saturday, with Brian Lafty and Matt Scully also registering sacks. Jacob Hille and Jeff Decker additionally combined on another. Matt Wertz and Kevonte Beard finished with seven and six tackles, respectively.

Up Next

The Diplomats have guaranteed themselves a winning record as they finished the year with a 6-4 mark, including a 5-4 record inside the Centennial Conference. F&M will now await the NCAA selection show on Sunday at 5 p.m. to see if a second team from the Centennial Conference Tournament is selected to the national tournament. If a second team from the conference is picked, the Diplomats would once again play in the Centennial-MAC Bowl Series next Saturday.