GETTYSBURG, Pa. – Playing in his final collegiate game, Gettysburg senior Dennis Flaherty (Oreland, PA/Bishop McDevitt) completed 21 of 27 passes for 243 yards and two milestone touchdowns to lead the Bullets past Franklin & Marshall 17-3 in a battle of winless Centennial Conference (CC) teams on Saturday.
Flaherty broke the program record for passing yards in a season (2,095) and career touchdown tosses (33) while helping Gettysburg (1-9, 1-6 CC) snap an 11-game losing streak and send the Diplomats (0-10, 0-7 CC) to their first winless season since 1962.
Jay Toscano (Seaville, NJ/Ocean City) and Alex Nicholas (Far Hills, NJ/Bernards) each caught second-quarter touchdown passes to key the victory, which gave Gettysburg a 40-39-7 advantage in the all-time series with F&M and helped the Bullets avoid their first winless campaign since 1903.
In his final appearance in a Gettysburg uniform, senior Bryan Pojanowski (Rockaway Twp., NJ/Morris Knolls) carried 13 times for 39 yards and also caught a team-high five passes for 60 yards to finish the season as the team's leader in rushing yards (406) and receptions (37). Fellow senior Pat Currier (Walkersville, MD/Walkersville) also went out in style with two of Gettysburg's four interceptions on the afternoon.
For Franklin & Marshall, Paul Fix carried 31 times for 104 yards while the quarterback tandem of Dave Makson and Mark Rowand went a combined 14-of-34 for 115 yards and four interceptions as the Diplomats lost their 10th straight game.
After a scoreless first 15 minutes, Gettysburg got on the board following Currier's first interception midway through the second quarter.
Flaherty opened the drive from the Gettysburg 31 with a 40-yard pass. Following a five-yard carry by Toscano, Flaherty found Pat Jordan (Bethesda, MD/Gonzaga College) on a 16-yard pass to the Diplomat 8.
A Gettysburg false start penalty – one of 11 on the day against the home team for a total of 99 yards – moved the ball back to the Diplomat 13, but Toscano took an underneath pass from Flaherty into the end zone on the next play to give the Bullets a 7-0 lead with 7:10 left in the half. The pass capped a four-play, 69-yard march and made Flaherty the ninth quarterback in CC history to throw for over 5,000 career passing yards. Franklin & Marshall answered with a 14-play, 51-yard drive on its next possession, but had to settle for a 23-yard field goal from Kevin Lonergan to pull within 7-3.
On its next possession, Gettysburg marched 67 yards on eight plays to take a 14-3 lead when Flaherty found Nicholas on a two-yard pass with seven seconds left before halftime. Flaherty went 6-for-6 on the drive while Toscano ripped off runs of 11 and 15 yards.
Interceptions by Ryan Moore (Glenolden, PA/Interboro) and Chris Jordan (Bethesda, MD/Gonzaga College) on F&M's first two possessions of the second half helped to maintain the Bullets' 11-point edge through a scoreless third quarter. Jordan's acrobatic pick, the first of his collegiate career, came on a Makson pass into the end zone with 3:25 left in the third to stop a 12-play, 58-yard drive.
Gettysburg also had a golden opportunity to add to its lead in the third quarter, but lost a bad snap at the F&M 15. The Bullets did, however, extend their lead to 17-3 on a 29-yard field goal by Dan Evanko (Trenton, NJ/Ewing) with 6:06 remaining in the game.
Franklin & Marshall drove to the Gettysburg 41 on its next possession, but Currier recorded his second interception of the day on a Rowand pass to keep the lead at 14 with 3:31 left.
The Diplomats' final drive of the game ended at the Bullet 29 on an incomplete pass on fourth-and-15.
In addition to his team-leading fifth interception of the season, Moore recorded a team-high nine solo tackles to finish the campaign as the Bullets' tackles leader for a third straight season with 109. Keith Adams (Hanover, PA/New Oxford) recorded six solos among his 10 total tackles to finish with 83 tackles on the year.
Flaherty wrapped up his collegiate career with numerous program records, including career marks for completions (386), attempts (808), passing yards (5,136) and touchdowns (33). He also set single-season marks in 2000 with 168 completions, 295 attempts and 2,095 passing yards.
Zach Facaros led the Diplomats with 13 tackles, including eight solos while Matt de la Rosa made 10 stops and recorded the team's lone sack of the afternoon. Matt Lintal returned an interception 74 yards to halt Gettysburg's first drive of the game deep in F&M territory.
Gettysburg opens its 2001 season at home against Lebanon Valley College on September 1.
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