READING, Pa. – In a game that saw five lead changes in the second half, the last laugh went to the Albright football team as it defeated Franklin and Marshall, 28-23, on Saturday afternoon in the Centennial-MAC Bowl Series. The win sends the Lions into the offseason with an 8-3 record.

The first half was controlled by both defenses as F&M quarterback Tanner Erisman had the only two scores for the first 29 minutes of action. He rushed for touchdowns from one yard and from 10 yards out to give the Diplomats a 13-0 lead. The PAT on the first score failed.

Albright got on the board with 1:00 left in the half. Mike Knight hit Vinny Williams on an out pattern that turned into a 38-yard touchdown reception to cut the deficit to 13-7. Williams finished with five catches for 91 yards.

The five lead changes started with Roemello Monroe capping a seven-play, 81-yard drive with a 1-yard touchdown run to give Albright its first lead at 14-13 with 8:12 left in the third. The Diplomats (7-4) embarked on a long drive of their own on their next possession, moving 73 yards in eight plays before stalling and settling for a 19-yard field goal. That made it 16-14 Franklin and Marshall.

Knight threw his second touchdown pass on the next drive, connecting with Kyle Dickerson from 12 yards away to give the Lions another lead. A two-point conversion to Williams pushed the lead to 22-16 with 1:03 left in the third. Dickerson had four catches for 78 yards.

In the fourth, the Diplomats again took the lead thanks to a 17-yard touchdown run from Dave Shellhammer. With the PAT, Franklin and Marshall led, 23-22.

Albright took over at its own 12 with 7:30 to play, trailing by a point. Knight hit Williams on two completions to get the Lions to their own 43-yard line, then the big play on the drive came on a 49-yard run by Chris Dawson down to the Diplomats' 8-yard line. That was his only carry of the game. Two plays later, Monroe rushed for his second touchdown to make it 28-23. The two-pointer failed, leaving F&M with a chance to win with a touchdown with 3:29 left. Monroe finished with 64 yards on nine carries.

F&M got the ball to the Albright 8 with just under a minute to play, but it could move no further. After a timeout with 42 seconds to play, a botched snap on third down put the ball back to the 15. With the clock running without a timeout, the Diplomats had to hurry to the line for fourth down. Erisman's pass sailed high and out-of-bounds down the right sideline to clinch the victory for the Lions.

Knight was named the game's Most Valuable Player after coming in relief and completing 10-of-17 passes for 159 yards and two touchdowns. Kevin Mason led the defensive effort for Albright with 11 tackles. Rich Kuhn had nine tackles, two tackles-for-loss and a fumble recovery after a strip-sack by Johnny Chillemi. Chris Oliphant had seven tackles, 2.5 tackles-for-loss and a sack.