Game Notes

Franklin & Marshall Last Time Out...

The Franklin & Marshall football team earned a 16-12 victory against Lebanon Valley last Friday during the team's season opener. The Diplomats outscored the Flying Dutchmen 13-3 during the second half to complete the come-from-behind win. With the victory, the Diplomats improved to 79-53-3 all-time in season openers, snapping a two-game losing streak in season openers on the road.

Lebanon Valley grabbed the early momentum on the night as the Diplomats fumbled the opening play of the game and had a punt blocked during their second drive. Nonetheless, the defense stood tall and conceded just 12 yards during the first seven plays as the Dutchmen had just the 3-0 lead to show for their efforts. F&M quickly tied the game at three after a 35-yard field goal from Laurence Miller. The big plays on that drive to get the Diplomats in scoring possession were connections between Ty Tremba and his receivers Trey Glass and Jack Sutton. The Flying Dutchmen continued to be opportunistic early in the second half as Brody Robinson picked off an F&M pass and returned it 40 yards to make the score 9-3. Franklin & Marshall marched both of its ensuing drives in the half into enemy territory, but ultimately came away with no points.

After forcing a three-and-out to start the second half, Ty Tremba found Jack O'Hearen for a two-yard touchdown reception on F&M's first possession of the third quarter. The Diplomats got great field position after stopping LVC inside its own 20, with a 17-yard reception from Isaiah Brown putting the offense in scoring position again. That drive ended with a 34-yard field goal from Miller to make the score 13-9. The Flying Dutchmen embarked on the game's longest drive early in the fourth quarter as their 18-play possession went 76 yards, but stalled out inside the F&M 10 as Tom Papa came up with a pair of huge stops before an incomplete pass on third down forced the hosts to settle for a field goal.

Franklin & Marshall took over with 6:06 left in regulation and ran nearly five minutes off the clock before Miller added his third field goal of the night to put the Diplomats in front by a 16-12 score. Franklin & Marshall outgained Lebanon Valley by a 293-276 edge in yards. The Diplomats ran for 150 of those yards, with Tremba (77 yds.) and Mitch Wagner (55 yards) accounting for 33 of the team's 40 carries. Tremba also completed eight passes for 159 yards. A huge chunk of that output came on a 75-yard completion to Matt Hanna during the second quarter. Glass added seven receptions for 39 yards while O'Hearen caught a total of four balls, including his touchdown reception.

The defense allowed just 2.9 yards per rush attempt during the victory and held LVC to 5-of-17 on third downs. Dante Medlar and Jacob Hille both recorded a team-high nine tackles during the win. Medlar accounted for eight of his nine stops in solo fashion while Hille and Decker each recorded a sack. Decker made two of his three tackles in the LVC backfield as he proved to be a disruption all night long. As a team, F&M made seven stops behind the line of scrimmage.

Starting of a rivalry? 

Franklin & Marshall and TCNJ will be meeting for the first time in program history under the lights of Shadek Stadium on Friday night.

Friday Night Lights

During a wildly successful game under the lights for the first time at Shadek Stadium during the 2022 season, the tradition is back this fall. In addtion to the home opener, a postgame fireworks display will follow for all fans in attendance. That fireworks display celebrates not only the football team, but also the opening of fall sports and the College's opening weeks of class.

TCNJ Coming in Hot

Lions' quarterback Trevor Bopp broke a longstanding program record with 405 passing yards and four touchdowns to help the TCNJ football team hold off a game Eastern squad for a 41-21 victory in Saturday's season opener. Bopp put up career highs in every passing category, finishing 32-of-55 with four touchdowns to offset a pair of interceptions. Running back Jayson Schmidt caught two of Bopp's scoring throws, while sophomore Ryan Gill established himself as a go-to target with 10 receptions for 105 yards and a score of his own. Jack Young and Dominick Nocero each had critical interceptions to lead the defensive unit.

The Lions opened the scoring with a 21-yard field goal by Bobby Wortman midway through the first quarter. The Eagles took a 7-3 lead early in the second stanza, capitalizing on another Bopp pick and using the short field to go in front on a 15-yard touchdown pass from Sabor Stevens to Izayah Guy-Bruton. A bad snap on the Eagles' next drive was recovered by Bill Westerby, and the Lions cashed in on another short field on Bopp's 9-yard fade to Gill in the back corner of the end zone Eastern went on a long touchdown drive to get within 17-14, but Bopp engineered a robust response, and Schmidt took a screen pass 10 yards to the house to extend the Lions' lead to 24-14 just before half.

Wortman's second field goal made it a 27-14 contest, but Eastern came roaring back with a 67-yard strike from Stevens to Eddie Swinton with 8:21 left in the third. Bopp gave TCNJ some breathing room with a 29-yard touchdown toss to Jaiden Johnson, who streaked open down the left sideline with his first career scoring grab. Bopp put some window dressing on the final score with a Mahomesian underhand flip to Schmidt for a 6-yard touchdown and a 41-21 lead with just over a minute to go.

Jake McKown racked up career highs of six catches and 77 yards, Johnson had 4 for 66, and Schmidt registered six catches for 62 yards. Erik Garv had two catches, including a critical grab on fourth down on a fourth down to set up Wortman's first field goal. TCNJ piled up 493 yards of total offense on 91 plays. The Lions were 3-of-4 on fourth down and scored on six of seven trips to rhe red zone

Preseason Picks

Franklin & Marshall was selected fourth in the annual vote of the Centennial Conference's seven head coaches. The College of New Jersey was picked fifth in the NJAC preseason poll, but coaches see the potential for a breakout season for the Lions as they were picked as the conference's dark horse.