Game Notes

After last week's scheduled home opener against The College of New Jersey was postponed due to lightning, the Franklin & Marshall football will head out on the road to battle Montclair State for the first time in school history.

***The Diplomats' game with TCNJ has been rescheduled for Thursday, September 21 at 7 p.m. inside Shadek Stadium.

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 Montclair State will be meeting for the first time in program history. With the new scheduling agreement, the Diplomats will play both Montclair State and TCNJ for the first time in program history. TCNJ will be meeting for the first time in program history under the lights of Shadek Stadium on Friday night. The Diplomats' third NJAC opponent - Kean - has played F&M twice in school history (1987, 2006).

Looking at the national rankings...

• In the stat that ultimately matters most, the Diplomats are one of 77 Division III programs that head into the third week of the season with an undefeated record

• Team Rankings in Top 50 Nationally

  • 4th: fewest penalties (4) - first in CC

  • 5th: passing yards per completion (19.88) - first in CC

  • 10th: fewest penalties per game (10) - first in CC

  • 16th: first down defense (16) - first in CC 

  • 17th: fewest penalty yards (17) - first in CC

  • 28th: third down conversions (53.3%) - first in CC

  • 32: scoring defense (12.0) - second in CC

  • 32nd: kick return defense (14.0) - third in CC

  • 46th: fewest penalty yards per game (40.0) - first in CC

• Individuals in top 50 Nationallly

  • Laurence Miller

    • 1st: field goals per game (3.0) - first in CC

    • 37th: field goal percentage (75.0%)

  • Ty Tremba

    • 3rd: passing yards per completion (19.88) - first in CC

    • 42nd: yards per pass attempt (8.83)

  • Jeff Decker

    • 37th: sacks (1) - first in CC

    • 47th: tackles for loss (2.0)

  • Jacob Hille

    • 15th: solo tackles (7) - first in CC

    • 37th: sacks (1) - first in CC

    • 47th: tackles for loss (2.0)

  • Dante Medlar

    • 15th: solo tackles (7) - first in CC

Checking the record books (Career rankings at F&M)

• Kevonte Beard

  • Fumble return TDs: 1st (2)

  • Punt return TDs: t-3rd (1)

  • Tackles for loss: 6th (34.5)

  • Yards from tackles for loss: 6th (127)

  • Fumble returns: t-11th (1)

  • Fumble return yards: 21st (3)

  • Fumbles forced: t-24th (3)

  • Quarterback sacks: t-29th (10.5)

• Logan Clouse

  • Pass completion pct: 14th (50.7)

  • Total offense/game: 16th (102.0)

  • Passing yards/game: 17th (94.4)

  • Pass efficiency: 20th (102.1)

  • Passing TDs: 21st (14)

  • Pass attempts: 22nd (286)

  • Pass completions: 22nd (145)

  • Passing yards: 26th (1511)

  • Average yards/pass: 28th (5.3)

  • Average yards/completion: 30th (10.4)

• Justin Gerhart

  • Interception return TDs: t-5th (1)

  • Interceptions: t-17th (8)

  • Interception return yards: 22nd (94)

• Trey Glass

  • Average yards/kick return: 16th (20.27)

• Kell Hall

  • Interception return TDs: t-5th (1)

  • Passes defended: t-30th (16)

• Jacob Hille

  • Blocked kicks: t-12th (2)

• Nick Johnston

  • Kick return TDs: t-2nd (1)

• Ryan McArthur

  • Punt return TDs: t-3rd (1)

• Laurence Miller

  • PAT kick pct: 4th (92.6)

  • Field goal pct: 6th (70.6)

  • Field goals made: t-7th (12)

  • PAT kicks made: t-10th (50)

• Matt Scully

  • Average yards/kick return: 1st (24.27)

  • Kick return TDs: t-2nd (1)

  • Interception return TDs: t-5th (1)

  • Kick return yards: 7th (801)

  • Kick returns: 11th (33)

• Jack Sutton

  • Receptions/game: 18th (2.91)

• Ty Tremba

  • Pass efficiency: 1st (148.2)

  • Average yards/pass: 1st (9.0)

  • Total offense/game: 1st (228.4)

  • Passing yards/game: 2nd (199.1)

  • Average yards/completion: 4th (14.9)

  • Pass completion pct: 5th (60.3)

  • Total offense/play: 5th (6.53)

  • Passing yards: 22nd (1792)

  • Pass completions: 24th (120)

  • Passing TDs: t-24th (11)

  • Total offense yards: 25th (2056)

  • Pass attempts: 28th (199)

Infusion of Youth on Offense

The F&M offense is expected to start three first-years and two sophomores during the opening game against Montclair State. That group includes sophomore quarterback Ty Tremba and wide receiver Gary Lewis.

Experienced defense

On the contrary, the F&M starting defense features seven seniors, three juniors, and just one sophomore. Even F&M's lone sophomore starter on defense - Matt Wertz - has played in 10 of the first 11 games of his collegiate career.

Returning All-Centennial Conference Performers

• Kevonte Beard - LB/DE (2022 first team; 2021 second team); 2019 Rookie of the Year

• Jeff Decker - DE (2022 second team)

• Justin Gerhart - CB (2022 first team) - 2022 All-American

• Jacob Hille - LB (2022 second team)

• Matt Scully - KR (2021 honorable mention)

Centennial Conference/Postseason Outlook

The Diplomats were picked fourth in the Centennial Conference poll. Removing the automatic qualifier who will go to the NCAA Tournament and accounting for the possibility of any at-large selections to the national tournament, the next three teams in the Centennial Conference standings who do not advance to the NCAA Tournament will play in the Centennial-MAC Bowl series on the Saturday following the regular season finale. This week will be the second of Centennial-NJAC matchups while most teams will be on a bye the following week with the exception of F&M and TCNJ who will be making up their postponed contests. Centennial Conference play begins the weekend of Friday, September 29 and Saturday, September 30.

Scouting Montclair State

The Red Hawks will play their second of 10 consecutive weeks against the Diplomats after they opted to go with a bye in week one when most Centennial and New Jersey Athletic Conference schools played their other non-conference game outside of the two conference's scheduling agreement. Montclair State will play its other non-conference game next Saturday, September 23 at Union College. Both teams enter the week with just one game under their belts as F&M starts its stretch of nine games in nine weeks.

Montclair State is coming off of a 32-21 win against Gettysburg last Saturday. The Red Hawks controlled the ball on offense as four different players rushed for at least 20 yards as the Red Hawks racked up 167 yards on the ground, averaging 7.0 yards per carry over their 24 attempts. That included two rushing touchdowns for quarterback Andrew Sanborn who threw for another score and finished the day with 180 yards passing while completing 19 of his 29 attempts. Despite the huge day on the ground, Gettysburg won the time of possession battle with over 35 minutes as the Bullets racked up 28 first downs - half of which came through the air. Gettysburg outgained Montclair State by a 363-347 edge (running 82 plays compared to just 53 for the Red Hawks). Nevertheless, two Gettysburg fumbles around midfield and a turnover on downs right at the goalline during the final seconds loomed large.

Nicholas Burgess will certainly be a name to watch for Montclair State as he had 12 tackles in the season opener, including two for a loss. He was named the New Jersey Athletic Conference Defensive Player of the Week for his efforts. Keyshawn Dixon was named the NJAC Special Teams Player of the Week as he came up with a key blocked punt which ultimately led to a touchdown to put the Red Hawks up by 10 points midway through the third quarter.