LANCASTER, Pa. – Gary Lewis hauled in four of his eight catches for touchdowns and accounted for 221 yards receiving as the Franklin & Marshall football team dominated Catholic in a 42-7 final during True Blue Weekend. Lewis' receiving yards were the fourth-highest single-game total in program history and the highest by any receiver outside of Dale Amos. His four touchdown receptions were just one shy of his own school record which he set against Muhlenberg two years ago.

First Quarter (Franklin & Marshall 14, Catholic 0)

After deferring their choice to the second half, the Diplomats forced a punt around midfield and promptly went 67 yards during their first offensive drive of the day. F&M finished six of its first 10 drives with touchdowns as Ty Tremba threw for five total touchdowns. His first touchdown pass went to Matt Eithner for a six-yard touchdown reception which the first of Eitner's career. F&M's defense forced a three-and-out with back-to-back sacks from Quincy Long and Austin Hadley. As he would do several times on the afternoon, Lewis accounted for nearly all of the offense on a scoring drive as he took the second play of the second drive for a 43-yard touchdown reception.

Second Quarter (Franklin & Marshall 28, Catholic 0)

Following another three-and-out from the defense, Lewis took the second play of the third scoring drive for a 44-yard touchdown reception to put his side up 21-0. The Diplomats went for the sneaky onside kick but were unsuccessful. Nevertheless, Connor Hille stopped that drive with a fumble recovery inside the five yard line. That onside kicked flipped the field possession in favor of the Cardinals, but the ensuing drive was stopped as LT Kelley burst through the line block a field goal before Gary Lewis waited until the third play of that drive for his longest reception of the day – a 67-yard TD catch with under a minute remaining in the opening half.

Third Quarter (Franklin & Marshall 35, Catholic 0)

F&M did not slow down offensively out of the halftime break as it had a methodical 12 play, 74-yard touchdown drive to open a 35-0 lead during the third quarter. On this drive, it was Lewis who drew a pass interference call in the end zone before catching a 13-yard touchdown for his final score of the afternoon.

Fourth Quarter (Franklin & Marshall 42, Catholic 7)

The Diplomats also scored on their first drive of the fourth quarter. With Jake Fant taking over the quarterbacking duties, he led a 31-yard touchdown drive following a strong 17-yard punt return from Chris Albero. Fant took three runs himself to cover the final 20 yards and put his team up 42-0 with just under 13 minutes left in regulation. With the game in hand, the Cardinals accounted for 75 of their 174 yards of total offense on their only scoring drive of the game.

Key Stats/Players

Tremba's five touchdown passes tied him for the school's single game record. That feat was last accomplished when Tremba found Lewis five times in the end zone during the aforementioned 2023 record-breaking performance versus Muhlenberg. Tremba is now one of just three quarterbacks in school history to have multiple five-touchdown performances as he joins E.J Schneider and John Harrison in accomplishing that feat. Tremba completed 18 of his 24 passes for 289 yards. Averaging over 16 yards per completion, the passing game accounted for 289 of the team's 368 yards of total offense. Six different receivers caught multiple passes during the victory.

Franklin & Marshall's defense forced a three-and-out on five of the Cardinals' first 10 drives and blocked a field goal on another one of those quick defensive stands. However, the Diplomats finished with just 30:19 of possession time as the offense was scoring touchdowns just as quickly as the defensive unit was getting itself off the field. The Diplomats had 10 tackles behind the line of scrimmage, with five of those coming off of sacks. Sam Keenan led the defense with nine tackles. Connor Eustice, Kelley, Braedon Post, and Owen Banghart accounted for sacks in addition to Lang and Hadley's strong play from the ends which also brought down the quarterback.

Up Next

Franklin & Marshall will open up Centennial Conference play when the team returns to action on Saturday, October 4 at Gettysburg. That game will come after the Diplomats' bye week. Fans will have their next chance to catch the Diplomats at home when Muhlenberg comes to campus on Saturday, October 11.