The good times keep rolling for Panther football.
Two weeks after Hurricane Helene and three weeks after their last game, on Oct. 11 they returned to Franklin for a Homecoming game with North Henderson. In a 45-6 rout of the Knights they improved to 5-0 overall and 2-0 in the Mountain Seven Conference.
Braydon Hervey shot out of the gate on the first play from scrimmage, following guards Bryson Gibbs and Maveric Waldroop to the right for a 44-yard carry. The senior gained the last 15 yards on three straight carries to the end zone just two minutes in.
Garrett Young gave his team the ball back on North’s first drive, sacking their quarterback and forcing a fumble on third-and-6. Caryll Cook recovered the loose ball and returned it 18 yards to the 1, where Hervey punched it in two plays later to put Franklin up 14-0.
The Panthers turned the ball over again a few plays later, when Lance Parker recovered a bad snap on a punt and returned it 33 yards for the score. Daniel Riddle’s extra point put Franklin up 21-0 less than five minutes in.
North finally caught a break on their next drive, when a punt contacted a Panther and they recovered the ball past midfield. Hervey sacked the quarterback three plays later to nip the possession in the bud.
Quarterback Anderson Terrell started the second quarter with a bang, finding Parker on a beautiful 40-yard throw and catch to North’s 17. The pair connected again for 15 yards on first-and-10, and Braylon Dezarn scored on a first-and-goal carry moments later.
Franklin’s defensive front seven continued to dominate from there, getting a key tackle from Addix Sutton on fourth-and-3 near midfield. The junior then gained 20 yards on Franklin’s first two carries on offense, before Young and Hervey put Franklin in range for a 29-yard Riddle field goal.
The Panthers got one more good drive in before halftime, getting 32 yards from Hervey on a punt return and a second-down carry. On second-and-7 from the 25, Terrell found Payton King for a wide-open touchdown to make it 38-0.
Riddle nearly made Franklin’s play of the night on the second-half kickoff, sprinting downfield to force a Knight fumble at the 35. North recovered the ball and mounted a good-looking drive into Franklin territory, but couldn’t convert a fourth-and-10 at the Panther 40.
With punter Will Sinclair sidelined due to injury, Terrell took the field for a rare double-duty late in the third, looking right at home on a 53-yard punt back to the Knight 1. There North’s returner touched the ball but didn’t hang on, and King recovered the ball in the end zone for his second score of the night.
With their lead at 45-0, Franklin triggered the state’s running clock mercy rule for the game’s final 15 minutes. Facing fourth-and-1 from their own 43 to start the fourth, North gained some traction versus Franklin’s second-team defense, carrying the ball 30 yards to the 27. They found the end zone minutes later for the final score in a 45-6 Panther win.
Following their fifth-straight blowout win to start the year, Franklin sat alone atop the Mountain Seven standings as one of just three teams to have played two conference games. They have now outscored their opponents 191-41, including just seven points allowed by their starting defense.
“I’m really pleased with our team. That was a focused football team tonight,” said head coach Josh Brooks after the game. “To have three weeks off and handle things the way we did with very few mistakes, I’m very proud of them. ... Our kicking game has been super-tough, our defense has just been outstanding, and offensively we’re doing good enough stuff. One builds on the other.”
After most teams across the region missed two weeks due to Hurricane Helene, the Panthers made some unique changes to their schedule to end the season. As Tuscola had not played a conference game when the storm hit, they were forced to reschedule their Sept. 27 game with Franklin to Oct. 15, to be played in Waynesville after press time. The game will be the second of Franklin’s five conference games in a four-week span to end the year, after the N.C. High School Athletic Association extended the regular season by a week.
While two games in four days was certainly a challenge for the Panthers, the team’s hardships paled in comparison to those suffered by their Henderson County opponents in recent weeks. Following the storm’s rampage through WNC Sept. 27, Brooks highlighted his team’s efforts to help those in areas hard-hit by the storm.
“I know multiple coaches, multiple faculty members that have helped, and they’re still helping and volunteering,” said Brooks when reached for comment Oct. 7. “When you can sacrifice a little bit of your own for the benefit of others, everybody benefits. And when you work and do things for others with nothing expected in return, that’s sacrifice and that’s what it’s about. They’re big teams and you’ve got to sacrifice personal wants for the best of the team, so they’re willing to do that. And we’ve had a lot of guys spend a lot of hours out there and they’re going to continue to work.”