Panthers use scrimmage to prepare for season

The Franklin High School football team had its share of highs and lows during a scrimmage at Cherokee Friday.

The Panthers had some long runs, but also gave up some big plays.

Press photo/Andy Scheidler. Julian Vilardo and Justin Stamey (right) combine to make the tackle during Friday’s scrimmage game at Cherokee. Franklin opens the regular season at home Friday against Hayesville. Kickoff is scheduled for 7:30 p.m.

“I think a scrimmage is never as good as it seems, never as bad as it seems,” coach Josh Brooks said. “Obviously we have a lot of things to work. Most teams do this time of year.

“Like I told my team, I’m looking forward to how they respond to the film work and the study and the correction that goes on from (Friday). If we have the right attitude to that, then we’ll get better as a team. If we respond negative to that, then we’re probably in for a tough span of time.”

Tyler Watson busted a 70-yard touchdown run, while Josh Young had about 11 carries for 76 yards. On the flip side, Cherokee’s Langston Wood had four runs of 35 yards or longer. Wood is a senior running back and a North Carolina Prep Football News preseason all-state team honorable mention.

“On defense, we have to tackle,” Brooks said. “They did a heck of a job, but we could have made some of those tackles.”

In unofficial statistics, Franklin has 153 yards rushing and 36 yards passing. Cherokee had 291 yards rushing and eight yards passing.

The scrimmage featured both teams running 10 offensive plays back and forth twice. Franklin then had its reserves play against each other, as Cherokee didn’t have enough backups. The final part of the scrimmage was a 12-minute game-situation quarter. Franklin had three offensive drives, going three and out, Watson scoring on a 70-yard run, and a turnover on downs. Cherokee scored a field goal, went three and out, and scored a touchdown run on the last play as time expired.

Brooks said the scrimmage was the first varsity experience against another team for many players, so it was a learning experience.

“If we would have come down here and ran all over a team that’s not any good, we wouldn’t have learned anything from that,” he said. “They hit us right in the teeth and made us work for everything we got. They made us play tough on defense. So it will make us better in the long run and that’s what we need.”