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Records toppled Saturday like sand castles swarmed by the incoming tide.
And, for a while, it appeared all Franklin & Marshall's football team had accomplished to date would be swarmed under a wave of big plays by visiting Gettysburg.
Scoring the first two times it had the ball — gaining 138 yards on just five offensive plays — the Bullets' no-huddle offense looked unstoppable.
Sometimes, things aren't as they seem.
Physically battered by injuries and, perhaps, emotionally bruised by last week's 51-13 loss at Johns Hopkins, the Diplomat defense pulled together, giving its offensive brothers an opportunity to execute their gameplan.
Scoring 19 unanswered second-half points, F&M (6-2 Centennial Conference, 8-2 overall) wrapped up its best season since 2004 with a 33-23 victory at Sponaugle-Williamson Field.
Picked sixth in the CC's preseason poll, the Diplomats finished tied for second with Dickinson (6-2, 8-2) and Ursinus (6-2, 6-4) as Ursinus outlasted the Red Devils 35-32 Saturday in Carlisle.
Johns Hopkins (7-1, 8-2) beat McDaniel 38-14 to win the conference title.
With its win, F&M remains in the running for the opportunity to play in one of the ECAC South Region Bowl games next weekend, possibly even hosting a game.
All that seemed a fading dream as the Bullets (3-5, 3-7) needed just 1:11 to twice dagger the Dips.
Running back Jamel Matunga's 68-yard burst on the game's second play set up his 2-yard TD run.
The next time Gettysburg had the ball, Matt Flynn's 61-yard completion to Charles Curcio preceded Ricky Manigat's 4-yard sweep.
"Sometimes when you break a big play early," offered Gettysburg coach Barry Streeter, "you get a misconception that you're really kicking their rear end. You're really not."
In between, F&M put together a patient, time-consuming, 10-play drive capped by John Kaschak's 2-yard TD.
This in keeping with the game plan to eat clock and keep Flynn and company off the field.
"The teams that have had success against [Gettysburg], that was the recipe," said F&M coach John Troxell.
But when the Bullets responded with a long drive of their own, with Flynn dashing 19 yards for a first down at the F&M 29, late in the first quarter, that game plan looked to be so much potential confetti.
"One of the things that is very hard to replicate [in practice] is the speed of that offense," said Troxell.
On fourth-and-7 the tide turned when sophomore cornerback Ty Savastio knocked an 11-yard first-down completion out of the hands of Gavin Jablonski.
Savastio, the "kid" in F&M's senior-heavy secondary, set the pace with corner Barry Lovett (six tackles and a pass breakup), safety Jeff Liberatore (three breakups) and safety Jeff Kellar (interception and three breakups) as the Dips locked down the Bullets on their next 10 possessions.
"[Flynn] has so much confidence in his arm," Kellar said. "But there were a couple times he took too much time, we got in the [passing] window and ended up making big plays."
"It took us a little bit to figure it out," Troxell said. "After the first two series, the kids responded well, rose to the challenge."
Following the stand, Kaschak (25-102) capped an eight-play, 74-yard drive with a 5-yard TD, tying the score.
Harrison set a CC record for single-season completions (225) with his first of the day and broke the single-season yardage mark of 2,709 (Frank Vecchio, Ursinus, 1999) on a 7-yard completion to Jay Ridinger midway through the second quarter.
It was George Eager's turn to be recognized in the second half as he finished with 10 catches for 162 yards in the game, becoming the third Diplomat in school history with 200 career catches.
He increased his career yardage to 2,444 and set a school record for career all-purpose yards: 3,986.
"I'd give back all my records and everything to win the conference," he said after the game.
Harrison (23-for-33, 213 yards) found fullback Ryan Murray open on a skinny post for 19 yards and the go-ahead touchdown, F&M's first lead of the day, with 2:40 left in the third quarter.
Holder Colton Weaver hit Michael Deutch for a two-point PAT on a fake kick, making it 22-16 F&M.
Two possessions later, Kaschak, running an isolation play, pulled up and shoveled an underhand pass over the defense to Deutch for a 2-yard TD.
Harrison's two-point PAT pass to Deutch made it a two-score game and after Frank DiMattia intercepted Flynn, returning it 41 yards to the Bullet 8, Mike Shinn kicked a 23-yard field goal for a 33-16 lead.
Flynn (18-for-39, 263 yards) had one last trick up his sleeve, a 52-yard completion to Kyle Davis that set up Manigat's 5-yard dive to the pylon.
But Eager covered the ensuing onsides kick and F&M ran out the last 4:17 of the game to nail down the win.
Dave Byrne is a Sunday News sports writer. E-mail him at dbyrne@lnpnews.com.
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