By Alvin Richardson
Staff

Franklin County didn’t get to fire their infamously loud cannon much Friday night, but two big plays spelled doom for the Dogs on the second night of Region 8-AAA play. A blocked punt put the Lions in business on Morgan’s five and they pounded it over for the first score of the game and a lame duck halfback option pass resulted in a 55 yard score.  That was enough to win on a night when the Bulldog offense never really found anything to hang their hat on to move the ball consistently.

Defensively Morgan County surrendered 122 rushing yards and 100 through the air and were led by Phillip Stovall’s 11 tackles. Defensive coordinator Clint Jenkins thought his unit played pretty well. “I was prou d of the effort and I liked the way our kids accepted the challenge and made some big stops on our end of the field.”

Other top performers on the defensive side of the ball were Ryan Glosson with two tackles, a fumble recovery and an interception, Brandon Rivers with six tackles, Drew Stapleton with five tackles, and Clay Duvall with two tackles.

Glosson didn’t have much room to run and still managed 35 yards rushing, but the offense mustered only 76 yards total for the evening.  Offensive coordinator John Robbins felt he got a good effort from his kids and singled out Jace Jenkins, Zach Sheppard, and Brandon Rivers for their play.

Morgan got the initial break of the game when they recovered   Franklin County fumble on the Lions’ first possession. The Dogs took over at Franklin’s 38, but failed to gain a first down and punted.  From their 17 yard line the Lions mounted a drive that moved them all the way to Morgan’s 14 yard line. 

On third and 12, Glosson intercepted a throwback screen to give Morgan County possession at their 24. 

A completion from J.D. Hawkins to Bo Cochran gave the Dogs a first down but an ensuing interception gave Franklin good field position at Morgan’s 36 yard line. Eight plays later the Lions attempted a 34 yard field goal but the snap appeared to be bobbled and the Dogs regained possession.

With 4:12 left in the second quarter, Franklin County blocked Morgan’s punt attempt and recovered it at the 35 line. One play later they took the lead and held a 7-0 advantage at the intermission.

Both defenses continued to play well although Franklin County was able to move the ball enough to attempt a 38 yard field goal in the third quarter which was wide and short. 

Morgan went three and out, however, and the Lions got the ball back in nice field position at their own 45 yard line. On second and 10 the Franklin County tailback faked a run and found a wide open receiver behind the Bulldog secondary. His pass was not a thing of beauty and his receiver had to stop to catch it, but was still able make the grab and out run his closest pursuer to the end zone. The PAT made it 14-0 with 4:07 left in period three.

Morgan County’s offense never got untracked and didn’t put two first downs together over the last quarter. The Dogs fell to 1-1 in region play and 1-4 overall and will host Elbert County in another region game Friday night.