Panther football is back on track after a big win over a conference rival.
Ahead of their game Oct. 8 against new Mountain 7 Conference rival North Henderson, the Panthers had lost two straight M7C contests to fall to a conference record of 1-2. In a blowout win over North Henderson on the Knights’ home field, Josh Brooks’ team now sits at 5-2 overall with three weeks left in the regular season.
Franklin kicked off to begin the game, forcing a punt on their second series on defense when a Knight receiver dropped a would-be first down on third-and-9.
North Henderson downed the punt at the Franklin 3, forcing the Panther offense to start their drive with their heels nearly on their own goal line. Franklin put together a good-looking opening drive however, pushing slowly but surely behind a good mix of throws by quarterback Chris McGuire and runs by tailbacks Ty Handley and Kellen Stiles. On fourth-and-4 from the Knight 32, McGuire completed a short pass to senior tailback/strong safety Daylon Henry, but North brought down Henry short of the marker to force a turnover on downs.
Henry exacted revenge soon after though, when on the second play of the Knights’ drive the senior ripped the ball out of the tailback’s hands. Stiles recovered the fumble near midfield.
Franklin continued their momentum after the fumble, getting a big 28-yard completion to the Knight 14 from McGuire to senior Davis Anders on the drive’s first play. McGuire found the end zone from 6 yards out on a quarterback run two plays later to put Franklin up 7-0.
The Knights put together a good-looking drive behind big running back Hazahn Collington after the score, but were unable to convert a fourth-and-11 from the Panther 29 and turned the ball over on downs.
Franklin looked sharp on the ensuing drive, getting multiple tough runs by Handley up the middle to soften up the defense. On second-and-13 from their own 37, Franklin completed a big ‘chunk’ play when McGuire found senior receiver Keagan Pollock deep downfield for 39 yards to the Knight 24. On the next play, Stiles gained 23 yards on a McGuire ‘option’ toss and found the end zone one play later to put Franklin up 13-0 midway through the second quarter. When a North offsides penalty gave Franklin an extra point try from the 1-and-a-half yard line instead of the 3, the Panthers attempted a two-point conversion but had McGuire’s pass for Anders batted down.
After the score North put together another good-looking drive, marching all the way from their own 37 to the Panther red zone. On fourth-and-9 from their own 18 however, Franklin’s defense came up big again, getting an interception from Pollock to stop the Knights in their tracks.
From there Franklin marched back into North Henderson territory, getting another big McGuire-Pollock completion for 30 yards to the Knights’ 20. Stiles found the end zone on third-and-goal a few plays later to put Franklin up 20-0 with 37 seconds left in the half. North Henderson attempted to cut their deficit before the break, but senior receiver/defensive back Grant Adams intercepted a Knight deep pass at his own 12 to preserve the halftime lead.
Franklin got a nice return by Stiles to the Panther 44 on the second-half kickoff, and from there continued to wear down the Knight defense with punishing runs by he, Handley and junior Daniel Ensley. On fourth-and-3 from the Knight 33, McGuire found Adams near the right sideline for 9 yards to keep the drive alive, then found Pollock for 17 down to the Knight 6 two plays later. Handley punched it in moments later to give Franklin a 27-0 lead.
On the ensuing kickoff, Franklin tried to put the game out of reach, attempting an onside kick to try and steal a possession away from North. Although senior placekicker Erick Munoz struck the ball well, North recovered at their own 44 to set their offense up with excellent field position.
From there the Knights began to drive toward the Panther goal line, getting a big 35-yard run to the 10 to put Franklin’s defense on their heels. The Panthers stood tall again however, holding North to just 3 yards on their next three plays and stopping them half a yard shy of the goal line on a huge fourth-down tackle by Ensley.
Both defenses traded stops on the next two possessions, giving Franklin the ball at their own 17 in the opening seconds of the fourth quarter. On their first play from scrimmage, Franklin completed their longest play of the night when McGuire found Pollock for 79 yards up the left sideline to the North Henderson 4. Ensley found the end zone two plays later to put Franklin up 34-0.
North Henderson got a nice return on the kickoff to the Panther 45, and started driving still in search of their first points of the evening. A few plays later the Knights finally caught a break – on a deep pass attempt from the Franklin 35, junior defensive back Clayton Guynn got a hand on the North Henderson throw, but the ball was tipped right into the arms of another receiver who walked into the end zone for a 35-yard score.
Franklin kept its foot on the gas on the next possession, getting a 33-yard completion from McGuire to Adams to set Franklin up at the North 30. Sophomore Gabe Nickerson found the end zone on a 23-yard run two plays later to put Franklin up 40-7.
North Henderson continued moving the ball on their next drive, getting a 28-yard touchdown run to cut their deficit to 40-14. The effort was too little, too late however, as just a few minutes remained in regulation after the score. The Panthers went on to earn an important M7C victory and move themselves to 4th place in the conference with an M7 record of 2-2.
“I saw a team that bounced back from two tough losses,” said Brooks after the game. “I thought we finished the game on both sides of the ball, and had a tough running back to tackle, which was really good for us. … They got inside our red zone [several] times and only got two touchdowns, so I felt like our defense played well. We turned the ball over on downs on offense the first series, and then after that we scored on six out of seven drives, so I felt like we did a good job in all phases. It was a more complete game, and I’m really proud of our guys.”
Franklin can move to 3rd in the conference with a win over 2-1 (4-2) Smoky Mountain at the Panther Pit this Friday, Oct. 15.