Game Notes

Franklin & Marshall Last Time Out...

Franklin & Marshall improved to a perfect 3-0 all-time under the lights of Shadek Stadium with a 30-10 triumph over Lebanon Valley during the team's home opener on Friday evening. Opening the home slate with the third consecutive season of Football and Fireworks, the Diplomats (1-0) raced out to a 23-3 lead at the half and added another touchdown during the fourth quarter to improve to 102-33-1 all-time during their home openers.

Franklin & Marshall finished with a 397-216 advantage in total yards as the Flying Dutchmen were limited to just 54 yards on the ground – an average of just two yards per carry. Lebanon Valley was held to just 12 first downs on the night, with the Franklin & Marshall defense limiting their opponents to just 1-of-11 on third down efforts. The Diplomats also won the time of possession battle with over 35 minutes on offense. In addition to his touchdown, Jack O'Hearen finished with a game-high 109 yards receiving. Poruban finished with a game-high 106 receiving yards. Poruban added 85 yards receiving to his touchdown on just four catches. as Tremba threw for 284 yards and three total scores. Rascoe was the team's leading rushing as he ran 15 times for 69 yards – an average of 4.6 yards per carry – to out gain the entire Flying Dutchmen offense in the rushing game. Aidan Hutchison averaged 5.4 yards per carry on five runs. Medlar led the defensive efforts with eight tackles and has interception, while Connor Hille added six tackles and a forced fumble.

Franklin & Marshall Returning Honorees from 2023 season

• Laurence Miller - Fourth team All-American kicker, first-team All-CC in 2023

• Jeff Decker - first team All-CC defensive end (second team in 2022)

• Gary Lewis - first-team All-CC wide receiver in 2023

• Matt Scully - second-team All-CC linebacker in 2023, honorable mention returner in 2021

• Matt Wertz - second-team All-CC defensive back in 2023

• Aaron Rascoe - first-team All-CC running back in 2022

• Jacob Hille - second-team All-CC linebacker in 2022

Last time we met ... 

The Diplomats scored at least 10 points during each of the first three quarters of their 2023 home opener against The College of New Jersey 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.

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 Gary Lewis and Jack 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 Dante 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.

Scouting TCNJ

A dominant passing attack spearheaded by a trio of fifth-year captains propelled the TCNJ football team to a 34-12 season-opening victory at Eastern during week one of the college football season. Trevor Bopp matched his career high with four touchdown passes – two to fellow captain Malin Jasinski and another to captain Thomas Burke – and threw for 368 yards for the Lions, who topped the Eagles in the lid-lifter for the second year in a row. Jasinski established new career high with 13 receptions totaling 152 yards and Burke racked up 122 yards on five grabs. After a slow start, senior running back Jayson Schmidt got going in the second half and wound up with 99 yards and a score on 16 carries.

TCNJ racked up 515 yards of offense at 7.3 yards per play. The Lions had 23 first downs, with 16 of them coming through the air.  Eastern had over 400 yards of total offense during its first game, but turned the ball over three times to hinder its scoring ability.  Nocero led the TCNJ defensive effort with 10 tackles and two forced fumbles, one of which he recovered.Kicker Tim Willever was named the New Jersey Athletic Conference special teams player of the week after makingt all four of his extra points in the season-opening win at Eastern. Additionally, the rookie averaged nearly 55 yards on six kickoffs in his collegiate debut, posting one touchback.

Centennial Conference Leaders

Rushing Yards
7. Aaron Rascoe (69)

Passing Yards
2. Ty Tremba (284)

Receiving Yards
5. Jack O'Hearen (109)
8. Michael Poruban (85)

Punt Returns
5. Chris Albero (3.0 average)

Total Offense
4. Ty Tremba (302 yards)

Field Goals
1. Laurence Miller (1)

Tackles
8. Nico Medlar (8)

Tackles for Loss
4. Austin Hadley (3)
4. Jeff Decker (3)

Sacks
2. Jeff Decker (1.5)
3. Connor Hille (1)
3. Quincy Long (1)

Passes Defended
1. Nico Medlar (2)
7. Matt Scully (1)
7. Matt Wertz (1)

Interceptions
1. Nico Medlar (1)
1. Matt Wertz (1)

Fumble Recoveries
2. Matt Wertz (1)

Forced Fumbles
2. Connor Hille (1)