Eastern University Football makes its first NCAA Division III Championship appearance on Saturday, traveling to Lancaster to face Franklin & Marshall in a second-round match-up between two 9–1 conference champions.

The Eagles arrive as MAC champions in just their third varsity season, while Franklin & Marshall, which has been playing football since 1887, captured the Centennial Conference title and earned its own first trip to the NCAA bracket. Both teams received first-round byes, so Saturday will be the first NCAA postseason game in program history for each side.
Eastern: Defense and the Ground Game

Eastern's identity still starts with its defense. The Eagles have kept opponents out of the end zone for much of the year. They have held opponents to only six passing touchdowns and 18 total scores. Most of those scores, of late, have come against short fields after turnovers. 

Junior linebacker Jason Bateman, the MAC Defensive Player fo the Year and veteran safety Gashawn Moody, a three-time All-MAC selection lead a defense that has playmakers at all three levels. Tahjere Jackson-Alston. Earned All-MAC Honors at corner. Up front, Salif Nikiema a First-Team Honoree and first-year end Freddie DiNardo lead a defensive line have consistently won the line of scrimmage against the run and generated pressure against the pass. The Eagles have 11 different players get home for 28 total sacks this fall. 

On offense, Eastern continues to lean on net rushing yards behind a physical offensive line and the backfield combination of quarterback Brett Nabb and running back Jeremiah Avrilien. Behind a veteran offensive line, they've carried Eastern to well over 200 net rushing yards per game, with the offense built around staying ahead of the chains, controlling the clock, and setting up play-action shots. Nabb earned MAC Player fo the Year Honors with over 1,000 yards through the air and over 1,000 yards running. Avrilien has 16 touchdowns and just under 1000 yards rushing. 

The Eastern receiving corps will look to take advantage if F & M stacks its defense against the run. Justin Nikolopoulos has four touchdowns and over 400 yards. Nassik Smith has emerged as a key possession receiver as the season has progressed. 

Special teams have also been a steady advantage. Punter John Westfield has regularly flipped the field and pinned opponents deep, and kicker John Nolek has handled the scoring duties, going 8-for-14 on field goals and nearly perfect on extra points. In a playoff game where every possession matters, those hidden yards and dependable points are critical.

Franklin & Marshall brings a different profile into the second round. Coming out of the Centennial Conference with three teams in the tournament, the Diplomats have run a tough gauntlet to make the tournament. They emerged with one-point wins over Muhlenberg, when the Mules failed on a 2-point conversion, and Johns Hopkins, when the Diplomats made a two-point conversion after pulling to within a point on their second possession in overtime. 

F & M has the advantage against the two squad's lone common opponent. Eastern lost on the final play at Lebanon Vally in Week three. The Diplomats earned a 31-21 over the Dutchmen in the season-opener. 

The Diplomats lean on a polished passing game led by quarterback Ty Tremba and a receiving corps headlined by Gary Lewis. One of the region's most productive wideouts. Tremba completes nearly 62 percent of his passes and has thrown for 25 touchdowns and more than two thousand yards. Lewis has 56 catches for 981 yards with 16 scores through the air. 

The Diplomats supplement that passing attack with a capable running game that has produced over 1,000 net rushing yards on the season, giving them enough balance to keep defenses from sitting on routes. Defensively, F&M tackles well at the second level and has a back end that has come up with important interceptions and pass breakups in tight Centennial games.

The Diplomat defense has given up 26 touchdowns and nearly 150 yards per game on the ground, but they are helped out by an offense that has given the ball away less than once per game on turnovers. 

The winner of today's noon match-up will take on the winner of the game between Susquehanna and Christopher Newport. That game is being played at CNU. Susquehanna, who won a first-round match-up to advance to that game, reached the final four last year.