Panther football remains winless after two games.
After a tough season-opening loss to Murphy, on Aug. 25 Josh Brooks’ team traveled to Robbinsville for a Week 2 clash with the Black Knights. While they ultimately fell 26-0, a young Panther roster looked much-improved against a talented Robbinsville squad.
Upon receiving the opening kickoff, Franklin’s offense looked sharp on their first series, getting an eight-yard completion from Brock Bradley to Wyatt Cantrell and multiple strong runs by Braydon Hervey. Forced to punt near midfield however, disaster nearly struck when Robbinsville returned the ball 85 yards to the end zone, but the play was negated on a Black Knight helmet-to-helmet penalty.
Two plays later, Robbinsville completed a pass near the right sideline, but Cantrell stripped the ballcarrier from behind in the play of the game for Franklin’s defense. Junior Aiden Sizemore narrowly recovered the fumble in-bounds for the turnover.
Franklin stood tall again on Robbinsville’s next drive, getting a tackle for loss from Hervey, a would-be forced fumble and recovery by Sizemore (officials ruled the runner down despite not having blown the play dead) and an excellent open-field tackle by Braylon Dezarn to force a three-and-out.
The unit’s luck ran out minutes later however, giving up a 49-yard touchdown completion on third-and-5. Robbinsville scored on an outside run for a 2-point conversion and an 8-0 lead.
Franklin’s defense regrouped for the last 10 minutes of the half, forcing two Black Knight punts behind a run stuff from Logan Deal and a pass breakup on a deep attempt near the end zone from Cantrell. The unit held Robbinsville scoreless the rest of the half.
After falling behind 34-0 at the half the previous week, the eight-point deficit seemed like a positive sign for Franklin versus a team observers felt was equal to or better than Murphy. As the Panthers jogged to the locker room, lineman Jacob Gibson could be heard spurring his teammates on, saying, “No one thought this score would be like this at halftime!”
The senior led by example to start the third, stopping a Black Knight first-down run in its tracks near midfield on the half’s first possession. Despite the play from Gibson however, Robbinsville kept driving to the goal line, scoring on a second-and-goal run from the 2. Junior middle linebacker Avery Carpenter broke up a 2-point conversion pass attempt to keep Franklin’s deficit to 14-0.
The Knights kept rolling on their next offensive drive, completing a 26-yard pass to the Panther 11. Despite a strong effort by Franklin’s defense near the goal line, Robbinsville scored on a fourth-and-1 run from the 2 to make it 20-0. A Knight 2-point conversion pass attempt fell incomplete with 10 minutes to play.
With three minutes to play, Robbinsville tacked onto their lead, gashing an exhausted Panther defense for a 41-yard touchdown run. The Knight kicker missed badly on an extra point attempt, shedding light on the team’s consistent 2-point attempts and aggressive play calls at the goal line. Robbinsville maintained their 26-0 lead to the final whistle.
After the game, Brooks said that although the final score wasn’t pretty, he was happy with the team’s improvement from Week 1.
“We talked last week and I said we’d learn a lot about our team. I loved our preparation for this game,” said Brooks. “The film session on Monday was not pleasent for anybody – nobody likes watching that. We just challenged everybody [to have] a better effort and a better attitude, and I think we got a better effort tonight. ... I’m not satisfied with losing, I’ll never say, ‘Oh, that’s alright,’ but I am proud of the kids and how they fought against a good football team.”
With underclassmen and first-year players starting all over the field, a young team like Franklin will inevitably have some growing pains. Between inexperience and several injuries to key starters, the Panthers have had more than their fair share of obstacles.
“We had 18 first-timers on defense and 14 on offense. Offenslively we started 11 new guys, and defensively last week we started eight new guys,” said Brooks. “[Senior defensive tackle Gabe Nickerson] was one of those [veterans], and he’s out. Hervey is out and Braylon Dezarn is out, and those are all two-way starters for us. And so, we were young to start with, and now we’re back six more. That’s why I said I loved the competitive spirit. I thought we battled.”
In losses to two 1A powerhouses in Murphy and Robbinsville, the Panthers received a strict litmus test for the rest of the season, including a trip to Swain County Sept. 1.
“I think we’re gonna see a lot of the same stuff,” said Brooks of the Black Knights and Maroon Devils. “I think we’re gonna see a hard-nosed, downhill-running football team. We’ve got to get lined up right, got to play hard, got to rally to the ball and try to make some plays on offense. This is the first time we’ve been shut out in a long time, so we’ve got to try to do a better job with that, and we will.”