Panther football has earned its second straight win.
One week after beating Robbinsville 28-7, on Friday, Sept. 5, the Panthers traveled to Bryson City for another nonconference game with Swain. With a second-straight blowout win they improved their record to 2-1, ahead of their first Mountain Eight Conference game Sept. 11.
Franklin’s defense looked sharp early on, forcing a Swain three-and-out on the game’s first possession. Standing deep inside his own end zone surrounded by Panther defenders, Swain’s punter handled a high snap and just barely got a short kick away.
With immaculate field position at the Swain 17, Garrett Young scored two plays later on an 11-yard run to the right to put his team up 7-0 just three minutes in.
Swain jump-started their offense moments later, returning the kickoff 30 yards to their own 39 and driving across midfield. Facing third-and-6 on the Panther 41, Swain found a receiver deep downfield on a double pass, who outran the Panthers to the end zone to tie the game.
Franklin’s offense stalled just past midfield on the next possession, but quarterback/punter Anderson Terrell pinned Swain at their own 6 with a beautiful kick. There junior Lance Parker took the ball back just two plays later, intercepting a Swain pass on third-and-5. With immaculate field position once again on the Devil 7, Terrell beat defenders to the edge for a first-and-goal touchdown run to the right. Franklin missed the extra point to keep the score at 13-7.
Franklin’s defense struck again on Swain’s next possession, when senior Addix Sutton intercepted another pass on third-and-5 from the Devil 37. Swain’s defense responded moments later however, intercepting a pass of their own on fourth-and-3 near their own goal line.
Both defenses kept trading stops for the next few possessions, until Swain took over on their own 35 with less than five minutes left in the half. From there they drove 65 yards in the next five plays, including a 42-yard run by Zeke Glaspie, to take the lead 14-13.
Taking over with roughly three minutes at their own 26, Franklin responded on their last drive of the half, marching 40 yards across midfield on their next eight plays. On first-and-10 from the Swain 34 Terrell evaded Devil defenders and found senior Brock Bradley with a beautiful touchdown pass. Junior Juan Olvera kicked the extra point to retake the lead 20-14 with just 15 seconds left in the half.
Franklin kept rolling after the break, clearing the lane for a 25-yard return by Gabe Harrison to the Panther 47 on the second-half kickoff. Just two plays later Franklin made the play of the game, again paving the way for a tackle-breaking 53-yard touchdown run by Terrell. Terrell ran up the middle again for a two-point conversion to extend Franklin’s lead to 28-14.
Swain responded on their next possession, driving 71 yards on the next 10 plays to cut Franklin’s lead to 28-21.
Franklin’s offense stayed hot on their subsequent drive, marching 58 yards in 11 plays to the Devil 7. On third-and-goal Terrell escaped to his right and found Bradley for another touchdown. The extra point put Franklin ahead 35-21 just a few seconds into the fourth quarter.
Franklin’s defense forced another three-and-out on Swain’s next drive, where a short punt out of bounds gave the Panthers more strong field position at the Devil 38. Olvera drilled a 30-yard field goal minutes later to extend Franklin’s lead to 38-21.
Franklin’s defense held firm on Swain’s next drive, forcing a turnover on downs with key tackles from Young, Harrison and Parker. Taking over once again deep inside Swain territory at the 30, Franklin drove to the Devil 1-yard line, where Bradley lined up at quarterback on third-and-goal and found the end zone on a sneak for his third touchdown of the night. With less than three minutes to play Franklin’s backup defense took the field, where Swain scored in the final seconds to make it 45-27.
“It feels good, especially because we came over here two years ago and it didn’t go the way we wanted,” said Bradley afterwards. “I’ve always been looking at that game, wanting to come back and do something special. They’ve had two pretty solid weeks the past two weeks, and we just came over here and shut that down.”
“I knew we were in for a 48-minute fight,” said head coach Josh Brooks. “Swain was playing with a lot of confidence, it was their first home game and they were coming off of a tough loss [28-27 at Pisgah Aug. 29], but a game that they felt like they could have won, so I knew we were going to be up for a fight. The quarterback [Druw Cody] was excellent, he played excellent, but I felt like we finished, I felt like we had a really strong second half, and just saw a pretty determined bunch. They’re just refusing to give in to whatever you want to call it. We’ve bounced back with two big wins on the road in tough places to play [against] programs that have won a lot of games, so I’m super-proud of our kids.”
After blowout wins over Swain and Robbinsville, the Panthers will kick off their Mountain Eight Conference schedule this Thursday, Sept. 11, versus East Henderson at Western Carolina University. Due to Catamount practices before the game, the gates of E.J. Whitmire Stadium will open at 6:30 p.m., with kickoff scheduled for its regular time at 7:30.