LANCASTER, Pa. – The No. 25 Franklin & Marshall football team made history on Saturday by winning the Centennial Conference Championship in a thrilling 29-28 overtime victory against No. 3 Johns Hopkins to capture the 2025 Centennial Conference Championship. The Diplomats came into the day having played more games than any other team in Division III history without an appearance in the NCAA Tournament. The Diplomats celebrated a record-breaking senior class with Senior Day before the game and it was those seniors who led the team to its first NCAA Tournament in program history.

That streak is over thanks to this record-breaking team which claimed the outright conference championship and automatic qualifier to the NCAA Tournament. The Championship was the Diplomats' eighth since joining the Centennial Conference (first since 2017) and the 15th conference title in program history. Saturday's match up was the first time in the 43-year history of the Centennial Conference that two undefeated conference teams met during the regular season finale.

Franklin & Marshall wanted to leave nothing to chance with an at-large bid to the NCAA Tournament still a possibility. In order to make the automatic qualifier a reality, the Diplomats took the ultimate chance as they went for two after scoring a touchdown during the first overtime to make the game 28-27. After finding Jack Harrison in the end zone on a 22-yard completion to make the score 28-27, Ty Tremba found a wide-open Louis Paris on the two-point play to send an already frenzied Shadek Stadium into total pandemonium. Just in case that wasn't enough drama, the Diplomats also blocked a 30-yard field goal attempt on the final play of regulation to prevent the Blue Jays from securing the conference crown.

The Diplomats never led until that two-point conversion feel safely in the hands of Paris as the Diplomats needed to erase a 21-point deficit midway through the second quarter. They would accomplish that with a defensive effort that did not allow the previously undefeated Blue Jays a point during the final 38:31 of regulation time. Tremba had a hand in all four touchdowns as he threw two touchdowns to the program's all-time receiving touchdown leader in Gary Lewis, while punching in another on the ground during regulation time. Fittingly enough, it was two more passes that provided the winning eights points of the overtime period.

First Quarter (Johns Hopkins 7, Franklin & Marshall 0)

Johns Hopkins scored on its first three possessions of the game to take the 21-0 lead. A heavy dose of the run game got the Blue Jays down the field before Bay Harvey found Robby Enright for 13-yard touchdown reception to go up 7-0. Three sacks during the first quarter from the Johns Hopkins defense put the visitor's offense in prime position to start the second quarter.

Second Quarter (Johns Hopkins 21, Franklin & Marshall 14)

After going 42 yards on this drive during the first quarter, Johns Hopkins needed just one more yard when Harvey found Geoff Schroeder out of the backfield for a one-yard touchdown reception. JHU's defense then got an interception and Harvey called his own number on a three-yard run to put the blue Jays up 21-0 with 8:31 to play in the first half. Although the Diplomats were trailing at the half, they seemingly had the momentum on their side as the first score of their 21 unanswered points came when Tremba found Lewis for a 24-yard touchdown reception. Franklin & Marshall's defense than tightened up and got a three-and-out before Tremba got across the goal line on a six-yard run to make the score 21-14 before the break.

Third Quarter (Johns Hopkins 21, Franklin & Marshall 14)

The defense continued to shine during the third quarter as it started the half with a fourth down stop and got a three-and-out on the Blue Jays' next drive to stay within a single possession heading into the final 15 minutes of regulation.

Fourth Quarter (Johns Hopkins 21, Franklin & Marshall 21)

Johns Hopkins went on its longest drive of the second half at the end of the third and into the fourth. Facing a fourth-and-one, Johns Hopkins was called for a false start. JHU still elected to go for it, but a 13-yard combined sack from Chris Albero and Connor Hille set the Diplomats up nicely at midfield. It would take just two plays to tie the game as Tremba found Harrison for 22 yards and Lewis for 34 yards as the game-tying drive covered 56 yards in just 30 seconds. The defense forced the overtime by not allowing another point, but it was not without anxious moments. The Blue Jays tried a 45-yard field goal that was short with just over two minutes to play. Johns Hopkins also had a shot from 30 yards on the final play of regulation, but LT Kelley made his own memorable Senior Day moment by blocking the potential game-winning attempt.

Overtime (Franklin & Marshall 29, Johns Hopkins 28)

The Blue Jays went to their offensive stars during the overtime and covered the 25 yards in six plays. F&M countered with a three-yard run from Tremba before he found Harrison in the end zone on the very next play. The Diplomats initially lined up for two, but called timeout to talk over the decision. Feeling even more confident with their play call, Paris was wide open in the end zone to send the Shadek Stadium crowd into celebration mode.

Key Players/Stats

Tremba finished the game with 250 yards passing and three touchdowns as he threw the ball 25 times. If that wasn't enough of the workload for the senior captain, he carried another 18 times out of Diplomats' 24 run plays to account for the majority of the rushing yards. Lewis hauled in a game-high 96 receiving yards as two of his three receptions went for touchdowns. Matt Eitner and Harrison accounted for 67 and 65 yards, respectively, in the passing game.

However, not enough can be said about the final two and half quarters of football played by the defense as three different players recorded double digit tackles. Sam Keenan and Hille each accounted for a team-best 13 tackles, while Austin Hadley made 10 more stops. First-years Oscar Marx and Kyle Checchio also made nine stops as the Diplomats had four tackles for loss, including two sacks. Nevertheless, the defense held up despite the Blue Jays running 81 offensive plays from scrimmage as the F&M defense was on the field for a total of 41 minutes.

Up Next

There will be no sweating the selection show for the Diplomats as they know they have earned one of the 27 automatic bids to the NCAA Tournament by virtue of claiming the Centennial Conference Championship. Franklin & Marshall will learn its first NCAA Tournament opponent and playoff path on Sunday, November 16 at 5 p.m. eastern with the NCAA selection. Fans can watch the NCAA Selection Live on NCAA.com.