Game Notes

Last time out (W, 20-16 vs. Ursinus) ...

Jack Sutton caught a 12-yard touchdown pass with just one second on the clock to give Franklin & Marshall a thrilling 20-16 win against Ursinus in front of the home fans last Saturday. That touchdown capped a 12-play drive that went 64 yards, including the game-winning touchdown. Although the final seconds provided the ultimate thrill, the entire fourth quarter was filled with captivating moments as the two teams battled for their first Centennial Conference victory of the season. F&M originally tied the game with 7:15 to play in the fourth quarter when Ty Tremba found Will Higson for an 11-yard touchdown that capped a 69-yard drive. That touchdown tied the game at 13, but the visiting Bears marched the ball 43 yards before a 41-yard field goal from Jordan Carr gave Ursinus a 16-13 lead with just 1:30 remaining in regulation.

A nice return from Matt Hanna helped to put the Diplomats' final drive in action as he returned the kickoff 27 yards, bringing the ball out to the F&M 36 to begin the eventual game-winning possession. The Diplomats converted two fourth down opportunities during the game-winning drive. Gary Lewis initially kept the drive alive when he caught a seven-yard reception on a fourth-and-one with 54 seconds to play. Sutton later converted a fourth-and-16 with a 17-yard reception after the Ursinus defense originally appeared to have the drive stalled with a sack and two incomplete passes. On second-and-10, Tremba found Sutton again for a 25-yard reception which led to a spike to stop the clock before the thrilling final play of the game. 

Stars of the Past Week

The Diplomats held a strong Ursinus rushing game to an average of just 2.1 yards per carry. That allowed the Diplomats to get after the quarterback on numerous occasions. Owen Walsh led the defense with nine tackles, while Daniel Shakal and Kevonte Beard each registered eight stops. Beard totaled 2.5 tackles behind the line of scrimmage. In addition to his interception, Matt Wertz was a constant nuisance to the passing game with four other breakups in coverage.

Quarterback Ty Tremba completed 12 passes for 154 yards and the two fourth quarter touchdowns. The Diplomats' sophomore signal caller accounted for 96 of those yards through the air during the fourth quarter rally. In addition to his game-winning touchdown, Sutton caught four passes for a team-high 80 yards. Lewis, Higson, and Ben Moir also had multiple receptions throughout the afternoon.

Last Game vs. Johns Hopkins (L, 43-26 in 2022)

F&M put a scare into then-No. 8 Johns Hopkins during a 43-26 final last season at Shadek Stadium. The Diplomats scored 10 unanswered points during the third quarter to pull within a 20-17 score before the Blue Jays scored 23 points during the fourth quarter to stave off any further comeback attempts. Even against a tough defense, F&M had one of its most productive days of the season on offense with 410 yards of total offense. Ty Tremba threw for 368 yards and three touchdowns during his first career start as both Trey Glass and Aaron Rascoe went over the 100-yard receiving mark for the first time this season.

Tremba's 368 passing yards versus Johns Hopkins was the ninth-highest single-game total in school history. That was the highest mark since E.J. Schneider threw for 369 yards at Moravian during the 2013 season.  In addition to an interception, Matt Scully led the defense with three pass break ups while also recording nine tackles. Jacob Hille led the defense with 11 tackles, with Kevonte Beard adding nine more stops on the afternoon. Beard and Brian Lafty combined on the Diplomats only sack of the game while JHU got to the quarterback 11 times and registered 14 total tackles behind the line of scrimmage. F&M threw for 22 more yards than the top passing attack in the conference coming into the contest, but the Blue Jays also ran for 194 yards on their way to 540 yards of total offense.

Nine Games in nine weeks

The postponed TCNJ game will create a unique challenge for this year's team as it is set to play the fourth of nine games in nine consecutive weeks. However, that is not as rare as a might seem at first glance.

• F&M has played nine games in nine weeks during 43 others seasons (first since 2007)

• 15th time since Centennial (1983) formed that F&M will play nine games in nine weeks

• The 1972 & 1974 teams were only teams to go undefeated during their nine games in nine week stretches, they were 4th & 5th undefeated teams in school history

• Since CC was formed, the best record during a nine game/nine week stretch was 8-1 by both the 1986 & 1989 teams

• This will be the first time since 2004 that F&M will be playing five home games in a span of 51 days or fewer

Looking at the national rankings...

• Team Rankings in Top 50 Nationally

  • 2nd: Fourth down conversions (87.5%) - first in Centennial

  • 17th: Fourth down conversion defense (22.2%)

  • 28th: Punt Returns (14.83 ypr)

  • 31st: Team passing efficiency defense (100.46)

  • 34th: Winning percentage (.800)

  • 39th: Scoring defense (16.2 ppg)

  • 50th: Team tackles for loss (7.2 per game)

• Individuals in top 50 Nationallly

  • Laurence Miller

    • 6th: Field goals per game (1.40) - first in Centennial

    • 26th: Field goal percentage (77.8%)

  • Matt Scully

    • 12th: Forced fumbles (0.40 per game) - first in Centennial

  • Justin Gerhart

    • 42nd: Pass break ups (1.4 per game) - first in Centennial

  • Matt Wertz

    • 42nd: Pass break ups (1.4 per game) - first in Centennial

  • Ty Tremba

    • 47th: Passing yards per completion (13.81) - Yards per pass attempt (8.50)

  • Chris Albero

    • 15th: Punt returns (14.8  ypr) - first in Centennial

  • Gary Lewis

    • 21st: Scoring (10.5 points per game) - first in Centennial

    • 29th: Receptions per game (7.0)

    • 36th: Receiving yards per game (99.0) - first in Centennial

    • 44th: Total touchdowns (7) - first in Centennial

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

• Kevonte Beard

  • Fumble return TDs: 1st (2)

  • Punt return TDs: t-3rd (1)

  • Yards from tackles for loss: 5th (133)

  • Tackles for loss: 6th (36.5)

  • Fumble returns: t-11th (1)

  • Fumble return yards: 21st (3)

  • Fumbles forced: t-24th (3)

• 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: 22nd (14)

  • Pass attempts: 23rd (286)

  • Pass completions: 23rd (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-10th (9)

  • Interception return yards: 22nd (94)

  • Passes defended: t-23rd (18)

• Trey Glass

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

• Kell Hall

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

  • Passes defended: t-27th (17)

• Jacob Hille

  • Blocked kicks: t-12th (2)

• Nick Johnston

  • Kick return TDs: t-2nd (1)

• Gary Lewis

  • Receptions/game: 5th (5.00)

  • Average yards/catch: 10th (16.10)

  • All purpose yards/game: 12th (85.1)

  • Pass reception TDs: t-21st (10)

  • SINGLE-SEASON RANKINGS: Pass reception TDs: t-21st (7)

• Ryan McArthur

  • Punt return TDs: t-3rd (1)

• Laurence Miller

  • PAT kick pct: 3rd (93.5)

  • Field goals made: t-4th (16)

  • Field goal pct: 6th (72.7)

  • PAT kicks made: t-9th (58)

  • Total points scored: 30th (106)

  • SINGLE-SEASON RANKINGS: PAT kick pct: t-1st (100.0) | Field goals made: t-9th (7) | Field goal pct: t-12th (77.8 in 2023)

• Jack O'Hearen

  • Receptions/game: t-22nd (2.67)

• 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)

  • SINGLE-SEASON RANKINGS: Fumbles forced: t-26th (2 in 2023)

• Jack Sutton

  • Receptions/game: 24th (2.64)

• Ty Tremba

  • Pass efficiency: 1st (152.3)

  • Average yards/pass: 1st (8.9)

  • Passing yards/game: 1st (211.8)

  • Total offense/game: 1st (237.3)

  • Pass completion pct: 4th (61.7)

  • Average yards/completion: 4th (14.4)

  • Total offense/play: 4th (6.73)

  • Passing yards: 15th (2542)

  • Total offense yards: 15th (2848)

  • Passing TDs: t-16th (19)

  • Pass completions: 19th (177)

  • Pass attempts: 22nd (287)

  • TDs responsible for: t-29th (23)

  • SINGLE-SEASON RANKINGS: Pass efficiency: 4th (155.7 in 2023) | Average yards/pass: 6th (8.6 in 2023) | Total offense/play: 9th (7.10 in 2023) | Pass completion pct: 11th (61.3 in 2023) | Average yards/completion: 27th (14.0 in 2023)

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

Centennial Conference Standings

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.

F&M is currently tied for fourth place in the Centennial Conference with Gettysburg. Johns Hopkins enters the week as one of three remaining undefeated teams in Centennial Conference play, but the Blue Jays have played just one CC contest to date this season.

Centennial Conference Schedule

Saturday, October 14
Muhlenberg at Gettysburg (12 p.m.)
Johns Hopkins at Fanklin & Marshall (1 p.m.)
Dickinson at McDaniel (1 p.m.)
William Paterson at Ursinus (1 p.m.) - Non-conference game

Scouting Johns Hopkins

All eyes were on JHU's Luke Schuerman last year as he registered six sacks last season as part of a defense that registered 11 sacks in total during the victory. Schuerman leads a team that is currently 5-0 on the season, including a 1-0 mark in Centennial Conference play. Moving up to No. 10 in the latest national rankings, the Blue Jays won 27-17 and 20-14 games during the first two weeks of the season and have won by an average of over 30 points per game during its three most recent contests. Defensively, Schuerman is leading the way once again in sacks with five on the season. Johns Hopkins has recorded 18 sacks during the first five weeks while allowing just four. Oliver Craddock leads the Blue Jays with 37 tackles. Cole Peters is second on the team with 33 tackles and also has two of his team's four interceptions to his credit.

Bay Harvey has started every game at quarterback this season where he is completing 72.8 percent of his passes. His 1,271 yards per game is an average of 254.2 per contest to go with 17 touchdowns against four interceptions. His two favorite receivers have been Cole Crotty and Josh Polce. Crotty is averaging 86.6 yards receiving per game with 27 catches for 433 yards and six touchdowns through five games. Polce averages 75.4 yards per game, totaling 26 catches for 377 yards and five touchdowns. The explosive Blue Jays' receivers average 13.5 yards per catch. Nevertheless, JHU can also move the ball on the ground behind Geoff Schroeder who averages 82.0 yards per game with 63 carries for a total of 328 yards in four contests. The Blue Jays have scored eight rushing touchdowns on the year.