It was a tough start to the season for Panther football.
On Aug. 18, fans packed the Panther Pit for Franklin’s season opener, a non-conference clash with 1A powerhouse Murphy. Despite falling behind 34-0 at the half, Josh Brooks’ team looked much better in the second en route to a 41-14 defeat.
After receiving the opening kickoff, Murphy shot out of the gate, getting 20-plus-yard runs on their opening drive from seniors Hunter Stalcup and Trenton Russell. Franklin’s defense stood tall at the goal line however, getting back-to-back tackles for loss near the 5 from Addix Sutton and Avery Carpenter. Murphy’s kicker missed a 24-yard attempt to keep the game scoreless.
The Bulldogs hit paydirt on their next possession, getting a 43-yard touchdown run from Cameron Clem to put his team up 7-0 on the second play of the drive.
While Murphy’s progress wasn’t as fast on their third possession, more big plays from Stalcup again brought the Bulldogs deep in Panther territory. The senior would find the end zone on first-and-goal from the 3, but Sutton blocked the extra point to keep Franklin’s deficit at 13-0.
Murphy denied Franklin’s offense again moments later, intercepting a tipped pass on the second play of the drive. With prime field position at the Panther 23, the Bulldogs scored again a few plays later with 8:31 left in the half. Despite two offside penalties giving Murphy a 2-point attempt from the three-quarter yard line, Franklin’s defense denied a quarterback sneak to keep the score at 19-0.
Murphy’s offense again got the ball with immaculate field position minutes later, as a high snap sailed over the head of Franklin punter Ashton Shope, who recovered the ball but could only advance it back to the Panther 24. Stalcup scored on the Bulldogs’ first play moments later to put his team up 26-0.
With 1:37 left in the half, the Bulldogs received a punt at their own 25, and quickly advanced the ball back into Panther territory. On first-and-10 from the 33, Stalcup caught a pass out of the backfield for a touchdown, and Murphy scored on a fake extra point to end the half up 34-0.
The Bulldogs kept the pressure on after halftime, intercepting a Franklin pass and returning it 30 yards for a touchdown just two minutes into the third.
With four minutes left in the quarter, junior lineman Josh McGaha made a heads-up play for the Panther defense, stripping Stalcup from behind and sending the ball bouncing to the turf. Franklin couldn’t complete the turnover however, as Stalcup fell on the ball to maintain possession.
With 10 minutes to play, Murphy threatened to score once again, having mounted a steady drive from their own 18 into the Panther red zone. For the second time in the half however, McGaha came through for Franklin’s defense, stripping Murphy running back Jonah Hedden on an inside run from the Panther 19. Junior defensive back Talon Smith dove on the loose ball to take possession.
After an apparent injury to sophomore Brock Bradley the previous drive, freshman quarterback Anderson Terrell took over for Franklin after the turnover. A few plays later, Terrell showed fans how he helped Macon Middle go undefeated last winter, finding senior Wyatt Cantrell for a 76-yard touchdown up the left sideline. Junior Daniel Riddle kicked the extra point to make it a 41-7 game.
With 2:30 left to play, Franklin’s defense came through once again, as Sutton recovered another Murphy fumble and returned it 69 yards to the Bulldog 10. On second-and-goal from the 6 moments later, junior running back Braydon Hervey found the end zone to cut his team’s deficit to 41-14. Murphy fair-caught the ensuing kickoff and ran down the clock to cement the victory.
After the game, Brooks said the team would parse Friday’s game film for what went wrong, then quickly turn their attention to a talented Robbinsville team Aug. 25.
“We’re gonna learn a lot from them this week,” he said of his team. “When things like that happen, I’ll learn about my coaching staff and I’ll learn about these players, because everybody can do it when it’s going good. That was obviously not the result we wanted. That team beat us in every phase, so that’s the great question – how do we respond? Do you respond with a good attitude, or a bad attitude? Do you pout, do you not want to take coaching, do you not want to watch the film because you know it’s not that good? We’ve got another good opponent that we’ve got to play next week, so how do we play?”
After finding themselves down 41-0, Franklin played with effort until the end – not an easy feat in the team’s home opener at the Panther Pit. To that end, Brooks said that despite the final score, there were a few things to build on in Friday’s game.
“We talked about the fact that we didn’t show our rear end, we kept playing hard and forced a couple turnovers, and you had kids out there playing their butts off,” he said. “We had some guys that made a lot of plays out there – Addix Sutton made a lot of plays, and Maverick Waldroop made a lot of plays tonight. So, there were some bright spots, and it’s an old cliché my dad used to say that the film don’t lie. … Obviously, it doesn’t really matter what I think – they’ve got to want to do that.”