Lions roll to second straight Region IV-3A title with another shutout
By DOUGLAS PILS
(First published in the Franklin News Weekly)
PFLUGERVILLE – Anyone worried about the Franklin Lions looking too far down the line hasn’t been paying attention.
Faced with what was supposed to be their toughest opponent and some trash talk, the Lions let their play speak for itself with a 66-0 victory over Poth on Dec. 3 at the Pfield. The victory gives Franklin the Region IV-3A-II title for the second year in a row and sets up a state semifinal rematch with Waskom at Mesquite Memorial on Friday at 7 p.m.
The 14-0 Lions earned that spot by outscoring four playoff opponents 259-13 with an intensity that’s been hard to match or stop.
“Our intensity starts in practice,” senior quarterback Marcus Wade said. “Everything we do starts in practice. We’ve got to keep our energy up in practice and it carries over to the game.”
Heading into the game, much was made about the Pirates’ defense, which had allowed 121 points or one more than the Lions had allowed. Talk that Poth’s defense was somehow superior certainly seemed like motivation.
The Lions held the Pirates to four first downs, one in the first half, and 114 total yards. Meanwhile, Wade’s offense piled up 653 yards, 566 on the ground and 87 passing, leading 21-0 after the first quarter and 49-0 at halftime.
“All we heard about all week long was how good that Poth defense was,” coach Mark Fannin said. “We preached (intensity) and we preached that all week. And they came out from that first whistle to that last whistle and played with great intensity.”
Poth threw two passes into the end zone, with Devyn Hidrogo intercepting the first one with 6:32 left in the first half and Darren Daughtery breaking up the second on the first play of the fourth quarter.
Six of the Pirates’ nine drives were three plays and a punt.
“We knew their defense was good, so we knew we had to come out and play,” said senior linebacker Seth Shamblin, who made five tackles and a tone-setting 10-yard sack on Poth’s first third down of the game. “We knew we had to stop them every single drive and we did that.”
While the defense was busy proving its case as the better unit, the Lions’ offense continued its assault. Senior Bobby Washington ran for 160 yards and three touchdowns on nine carries, leading three with 100 yards – Malcolm Murphy had 135 on nine carries and Bryson Washington ran for 114 on six carries.
Bobby Washington showed his full skillset in the first half, flexing his strength and speed. His second touchdown, a devastating 17-yard run, made it 28-0 with 9:49 left in the second quarter as he shoved two Pirates to the ground before an actual flex at the back of the end zone.
Hidrogo’s interception led to freshman Jayden Jackson’s second score, a 53-yard sprint, and then Wade hooked up with Bryson Washington for a 58-yard touchdown pass for a 42-0 lead with 2:10 before halftime.
Poth pinned the Lions back at their own 16 with a 49-yard punt and it seemed like 42-0 was the likely halftime score with only 48 seconds left. Fannin wanted to work on his no-huddle offense in that time, but Bobby Washington had another idea.
He took the pitch around the left side and it took him 15 seconds to go 84 yards for a 49-0 lead.
“You never know with Bobby honestly,” Bryson Washington said. “He can always take it to the house. That felt good.”
Jackson had opened the scoring with a 3-yard run to cap a seven-play drive to start the game. Wade threw a pretty 25-yard pass to Hayden Helton in the back of the end zone on a six-play drive after Shamblin’s sack. And Bobby Washington made it 21-0 with an ordinary 5-yard run on another six-play drive.
In the second half, Bryson Washington added a 55-yard touchdown on the first possession after a Pirates’ three-and-out. Poth responded by driving to the Franklin 21, but with many of the Lions’ second team on the field, starting end Parker Boyett stuffed a fourth-and-2.
On the very next play, Murphy took off on a 77-yard touchdown. Then, after Daughtery’s pass breakup on the first play of the fourth quarter, backup quarterback Cort Lowry led the second offensive unit on a 16-play drive that took 11 minutes and 21 seconds of the 12-minute fourth quarter to set up Shamblin’s 32-yard field goal and the final 66-0 score.
“That was one of the most complete games I’ve seen in a while with offense, defense and special teams,” Fannin said. “We executed on all of them.”
All of that sets up the state semifinal rematch with Region III winner Waskom. Franklin won 14-13 last year in Tyler, and there’s no doubt that both teams have made big improvements since that meeting.
Fannin and his coaching staff will be preaching that same intensity this week and the players say they will continue to be focused on what’s in front of them. “We can’t be too confident or too cocky,” Bryson Washington said. “We just have to play our game and win play by play.”
Leave a Reply