WILKES-BARRE, PA (November 18, 2023) -- In their final match up of the 2023 season, the King's College football team fell, 30-7, to the visiting Franklin & Marshall College in the Centennial-MAC Bowl Series on Saturday afternoon. With the setback at McCarthy Stadium, the Monarchs conclude the season 8-3 overall, while the Diplomats improved to 8-3.
 
After an empty opening drive, the King's (8-3) defense delivered as Dallas Solomon blocked the field goal attempt by Franklin & Marshall (8-3) to preserve the scoreless contest. The Monarchs then took the ball for a 15-play, 61-yard, drive over 8:36 of action but came up shy on a missed field goal attempt to start the second quarter. It was the Diplomats turn to string together a lengthy drive, this time taking advantage of a Monarch penalty to find the end zone on a 24-yard reception by Gary Lewis. Solomon blocked his second kick of the game on the extra-point to keep it a 6-0 contest with 9:59 to play in the half.
 
Franklin & Marshall connected for a 26-yard field goal on their next drive, pushing their advantage to 9-0 with 5:15 remaining before the break, but neither team could find a rhythm in the final ticks as the game remained 9-0 in favor of the Diplomats heading into the locker room.
 
Both teams had an empty possession to start the third before Franklin & Marshall found the end zone on a 30-yard catch by Jack Sutton as their lead increased to 16-0. King's found an answer on their next possession, responding with a seven-play, 83-yard drive over 3:14 of action as Russell Minor-Shaw connected with Ryan McCombs from 10-yards out to close within 16-7 with 4:29 to go in the third. On the fifth play of the next Diplomat drive, Joachim McElroy flew in and forced a fumble that was recovered by Amir Gibson on the Franklin & Marshall 49-yard line to set up a solid opportunity for the Monarchs.
 
Another empty trip gave the Diplomats the ball to start the final quarter of play, with Franklin & Marshall eating up 7:11 of game clock to add to their lead, 23-7. King's made a strong push with their next drive but came up just inches short on a 4^th-and-3. The Monarchs had one last chance to close the scoring gap, but the Diplomats defense shut the door on a comeback effort with two big defensive plays. The visitors tacked one final score on the board with 1:10 remaining on their way to the 30-7 win over King's in the Centennial-MAC Bowl Series at McCarthy Stadium.
 
Minor-Shaw completed 11-of-20 passes for 108 yards and a touchdown while rushing for 45 yards on 26 carries. Brennan Robinson led the run game with 49 yards on six carries, while McCombs posted a team-high 37 receiving yards on three catches with a score. Defensively, Jake Ruppert and Jared Reto totaled eight tackles and a quarterback hurry each, while Solomon posted six tackles, 0.5 sacks, two blocks, and a hurry. Additionally, Colin Hazelton had three break ups with four tackles, while Teone Sherrod set a new career pass break up record with his three deflections in the contest.
 
Franklin & Marshall was paced by Ty Tremba with 12 completions on 26 attempts for 184 yards and two touchdowns, while Mitch Wagner ran for 113 yards and two scores on 22 carries. Jack Sutton recorded 66 yards with a touchdown on three catches, while Matt Scully led the defense with nine total tackles. Owen Walsh was named the bowl-game MVP with six total tackles and 2.0 sacks for a loss of 12 yards.
 
King's recorded 221 yards of total offense, while the defense held the Diplomats 4-for-11 on third down.