LANCASTER, Pa. – The Franklin & Marshall football team scored at least 10 points during each of the first three quarters of its home opener against The College of New Jersey on Thursday night to come away with a 34-9 victory in front of the home crowd. In a home opener that was supposed to take place two weeks before weather interfered, the Diplomats wasted little time breaking in Shadek Stadium for the 2023 season as Ty Tremba threw for four touchdowns, with reigning Centennial Conference Offensive Player of the Week Gary Lewis hauling in three of touchdown passes

First Quarter (F&M 10, TCNJ 0)

The defenses appeared to have the edge early before a big strike from the Diplomats got the scoring underway. The Diplomats forced a three-and-out on the first TCNJ possession and got a huge interception from returning All-American Justin Gerhart to set them up around midfield on their second drive. Ty Tremba got them across midfield with a 14 yard run before finding Gary Lewis in the end zone just two plays later for the 31-yard strike. TCNJ moved the ball into F&M territory on its next drive, but came up short on the field goal as Matt Scully returned that kick 42 yards to set up a 50-yard field goal from Laurence Miller which put his side up 10-0.

Second Quarter (F&M 20, TCNJ 3)

F&M again had good starting position during its second drive of the second quarter and moved the ball across midfield on a 19-yard run from Dante Wilson. Another first down run from Seth Taylor and grab from Jack O'Hearen set the table for Lewis to go up and grab his second touchdown reception of the night on a 22-yard reception. The two teams would trade field goals on their final drives of the half as Miller connected from 43 yards before Bobby Wortman hit from 45 for the Lions as both of TCNJ's scores came as time was expiring during each half.

Third Quarter (F&M 34, TCNJ 3)

The only touchdown of the night that did not go to Lewis came early in the third as O'Hearen caught a slant and just kept running for 62 yards before he found the end zone 89 seconds into the second half. The Lions recovered a fumble around midfield and got the ball down to the F&M two yardline before the Diplomats held on four straight plays to force a turnover on downs. Luke Dauberman came up with the big fourth down stop at the two. With the momentum only building after the defensive stop, the Diplomats embarked on an 11-play, 98-yard drive that resulted in a six-yard touchdown reception from Lewis who also had a 22-yard reception early in that drive.

Fourth Quarter (F&M 34, TCNJ 9)

The final 15 minutes saw the Diplomats take nearly 10 of those minutes away on a punishing 58 yard drive before a field goal attempt came up just short. The Lions took over with 3:31 remaining and they would use all of that time, scoring a 22-yard touchdown of their own as time expired during the eventual 34-9 final.

Key Players

The Diplomats finished the night with 414 yards of offense, compared to just 321 from TCNJ. The air attack accounted for 295 of those yards as Tremba threw for 274 while Jake Fant added 21 more. Both Lewis and O'Hearen tied for the team lead with 109 yards receiving. On the ground, F&M averaged 3.1 yards per carry to help them stay ahead of the sticks as Wilson led the attack with 64 yards. With their sustained drives, the Diplomats finished the contest with over 36 minutes in time of possession.

On top of his interception, Gerhart led the team with seven solo tackles, including two for loss, and two pass breakups. Matt Scully, Jeff Decker, Tom Papa, and Chilamo Taylor also had tackles for loss in the win. Decker was seemingly in the backfield all night with a number of quarterback hurries that helped limit TCNJ's Trevor Bopp to just above a 50 percent completion percentage for the game. The Lions' running attack averaged just 2.9 yards per attempt on the night.

Up Next

With the Thursday night kickoff this week, the Diplomats will now enjoy a long weekend but they get back to work quickly after the break with Wagon Week on the horizon. Franklin & Marshall returns to action on the road against the rival Red Devils on Friday, September 29 with another 7 p.m. start. The Wagon has been parked in Lancaster during each of the two seasons and five of the last six seasons overall dating back to 2016.