WORCESTER – Holy Cross earned a share of an unprecedented fifth straight Patriot League championship with a 31-10 FCS Rivalry Weekend victory over Georgetown on Saturday at Fitton Field.

The Crusaders finished at 7-4 overall and 5-1 in the league to capture their 11th title in program history, but the win over Georgetown more importantly secured an automatic berth to the FCS playoffs.

Lafayette finished 8-2 and 5-1 with a win over Lehigh to clinch their share of the crown. The Leopards beat Holy Cross 38-35 during the regular season and were awarded the PL’s guaranteed berth through the first tiebreaker.

“To win our final game at Fitton Field was a huge accomplishment for this program,” said fifth-year linebacker Jacob Dobbs. “Five in a row is extremely hard and nobody has ever done it in Patriot League history so we are a part of history.

“It is not the way we wanted it. But at the end of the day, we are going to be grateful for these kinds of moments in life.”

Holy Cross entered the game ranked No. 25 with 24 teams awarded berths in the FCS playoffs through automatic and at-large bids. The FCS selection committee will release its playoff bracket on Sunday and the Crusaders are counting on strength of schedule to get an at-large bid from the field of teams with seven wins.

Two of Holy Cross’ road losses were against FBS opponents and both were by three points. Holy Cross fell to Boston College 31-28, a Power-5 conference program from the ACC, and at Army 17-14. Army is one of four independent programs. The Crusaders’ other non-league loss was to Ivy League co-champion Harvard, which finished the season at 8-2.

“I think there has been enough that we have done and we are one of the only teams to play two FBS opponents,” said Holy Cross coach Bob Chesney. “We came close and everybody else we played was a champion or in the championship game in their leagues.

“I hope that counts for something but time will tell. Does the committee look at us and say they played two FBS’s and lost by three points to those guys?”

Holy Cross rolled up 463 yards on offense on 62 plays with 340 gained in the ground. Senior quarterback Matt Sluka led the way with 161 yards on 27 carries with two touchdowns while tailback Tyler Purdy added 106 on eight rushes. Sluka completed 7-of-14 for 123 yards and a touchdown.

Holy Cross went up 3-0 on a 21-yard field goal Luis Palenzuela at the end of an 11-play, 61-yard, drive with 5:56 to play. The big play was 37-yard connection from Sluka to senior wide receiver Jalen Coker.

Holy Cross went up 10-0 on a six-play, 88-yard drive, that was set up by a 50-yard run by Purdy to the Hoyas’ three. Sluka scored a keeper on the first play of the second quarter, his eighth rushing touchdown of the season.

Georgetown got on the board with a 31-yard field goal by Patrick Ryan, but the Crusaders countered with a 16-yard touchdown pass from Sluka to Coker that made it 17-3 with 5:49 to play in the half. Sluka punched it in from the five with 33 seconds to play to put the Crusaders up 24-3 at the break. Holy Cross recorded 281 yards of offense in the half.

“To end it on a win was a humbling experience and the best way I could have written it out,” said Sluka. “It is out of our hands at this point, so I’m going to spend some time with the guys and enjoy the moment and get ready for next week.”