LANCASTER, Pa. – The Franklin & Marshall football team celebrated its seniors in the best way it possibly could on Saturday as the Diplomats officially locked up a spot in the Centennial-MAC Bowl Series, guaranteeing another game for the graduating class. The opponent and location of that bowl game will be determined on Sunday evening, but Franklin & Marshall solidified one more week together with a 35-10 victory during the regular season finale on Saturday afternoon versus the rival Bullets..
Turnovers certainly told a large portion of the story as the Diplomats held a 28-0 edge in points off of those turnovers with an opportunistic secondary coming up with three interceptions - in addition to a defensive line fumble recovery - as each of those short field drives resulted in touchdowns for F&M. The Diplomats led wire-to-wire during the victory, holding a 21-3 lead at the half before taking its largest and final lead of the day early in the fourth quarter.
First Quarter (Franklin & Marshall 7, Gettysburg 0)
Fittingly enough it was senior reigning All-American Justin Gerhart who helped to jump start the scoring as he picked off yet another pass after leading all of Division III just one season ago. Gerhart's interception gave F&M the possession just shy of midfield and the Diplomats needed just five plays to cash in on that chance. The longest play on the ensuing drive was a 23 yard reception from Gary Lewis before senior Jack Sutton capped the drive with an eight yard touchdown reception from Ty Tremba.
Second Quarter (Franklin & Marshall 21, Gettysburg 3)
Although the points did not come until the second quarter, LT Kelley pounced on a mishandled snap late in the first quarter to give the Diplomats just 50 yards to go for the 14-0 advantage. Just like the first scoring drive, this scoring chance took just five plays to convert. Lewis hauled in his school-record 16th receiving touchdown of the season from Tremba with a 37 yard reception, taking sole possession of the school record that he came into the week sharing with Dale Amos' total from the 1989 season.
Gettysburg got its only points of the opening half on a 38 yard field goal, but Daniel Shakal answered with an interception around midfield that he returned to the Bullets' 34. With the F&M offense right back in prime position. it took just three plays before senior Mitch Wagner found the end zone on a six yard run that made the score 21-3 at the break.
Third Quarter (Franklin & Marshall 28, Gettysburg 10)
The Bullets' only touchdown of the game came on their opening drive of the second half, but Franklin & Marshall answered right back with a scoring drive that was not preceded by a turnover. Even though the scoring drive didn't come following a turnover, great field position was still involved as Jackson Boothby returned a short kick 14 yards to just shy of midfield. Brady Aselton got a big chunk of those remaining yards with a 33 yard reception down to the one. After a Gettysburg sack, he finished off the remaining seven yards with his fifth receiving touchdown of the year.
Fourth Quarter (Franklin & Marshall 35, Gettysburg 10)
Shakal picked off two of Gettysburg's passes on the afternoon, with his second interception being returned 23 yards down to the Gettysburg 38 late in third quarter. A big pass reception from Jack O'Hearen got the ball down to the one before senior Dante Wilson punched it across the goal line during his final regular season contest. F&M's defense held firm the rest of the day, including a big fourth down strip sack from Ryan McArthur with the Bullets in F&M territory on the second-to-last drive of the afternoon.
Key Players/Stats
A number of short field opportunities left limited yards for the Diplomats' offense on numerous occasions, but F&M still racked up a 216-149 yard advantage through the air. The Bullets did finish with a slight 336-314 edge in total years. Franklin & Marshall was certainly much more efficient during its time with the ball. In addition to the 28-0 edge in points off of turnovers, F&M was a perfect 4-for-4 scoring touchdowns when it entered the red zone.
Tremba finished with 211 of those passing yards on 15-of-30 during his pass attempts with no turnovers. Lewis had just two catches – including his touchdown – but led the team with 61 yards receiving. He was one of five receivers on the day with at least 30 yards, joining Sutton, Ben Moir, O'Hearen, and Aselton. In addition to his touchdown run, Wagner average 3.7 yards per carry on his way to a team-best 61 yards rushing.
The turnovers were certainly the highlight for the defense, but senior Owen Walsh had another double-digit tackle afternoon with 10 stops - including seven solo efforts - while breaking up two passes. Luke Dauberman added eight more tackles to finish second on the team. Kyle Jones and McArthur both came away with sacks of the Gettysburg quarterback who was under consistent pressure all afternoon, leading to a completion percentage under 50.
Up Next
The Diplomats' victory – coupled with an Ursinus defeat of Dickinson – gives F&M third place in the Centennial Conference regular season standings by virtue of the strength of schedule criteria. That puts the team second in line (out of three selections) for the conference to go to a bowl game which would pit them against the second place team from the MAC (first in bowl series selection). As of right now, that matchup would put the Diplomats on the road at King's (Pa.) next Saturday. However, if Muhlenberg is selected for the NCAA Tournament via an at-large bid, the Diplomats become the top remaining Centennial Conference team looking for a bowl bid and would host either Lebanon Valley, Stevenson, or Widener depending on the tiebreak policies of that conference.
