Franklin County shook off some rust and showed a few wrinkles that will exist in this year’s playbook in a 28-7 scrimmage loss at Madison County on Friday.
Neither team’s defense was willing to give much, as a scoreless first quarter set the tone early. Ramsey Fulbright for the Lions had back-to-back sacks in what was a big stop for the Franklin defense, while Elliot Harbin was in on handfuls of tackles.
Nava Ware had a key third-down conversion, while Keyes Harbin had a first-down pass to Mason Davis. However, the offense turned the ball over with a costly fumble late in the half. The Red Raiders got down to the 10 before having the ball ripped out and recovered by DJ Appleby.
With bagels on the board at the break, Franklin opened up the scoring on the second half opening drive. Carson Cheek ripped off a 47-yd TD run for the 7-0 lead.
As if that granted permission for the teams to score, Dashun Brown rumbled for a 63-yd TD just moments later as Madison County tied it up.
Knox Whitworth relieved Keyes Harbin at QB, and had third down pickups to Davis, then to Jett Whitworth to keep the offense going. His next was on target but ripped out of Davis’ hands by Matthew Strickland, flipping the field.
Madison QB Trynt Latimore threw a deep ball that was juggled and caught somehow by Brayden Clark to end the third with the Red Raiders on the 23-yard line. Kardez White raced outside the tackles and found pay dirt on the second play of the fourth, giving Madison a 14-7 lead.
On the ensuing possession, White had a scoop-n-score to pad the lead at 21-7. Braxton Sorrow had a 2-yd TD for the Red Raiders after getting the offense in position with a huge run moments earlier, capping the scoring at 28-7.
