Regional Semifinal, Nov. 25, 2022
Franklin 53, Hitchcock 18
By Douglas Pils
Story originally ran in the Franklin News Weekly
SHENANDOAH – The Franklin Lions earned a trip to their third straight regional final with a physically dominating 53-18 victory over Hitchcock on a rain-soaked Friday at Woodforest Bank Stadium.
After 29 straight victories and 41 in the past 42 kickoffs, is it possible to take such success for granted?
“Yes, for sure because we’ve been on two state title runs and maybe a third,” junior linebacker Brayden Youree said. “I’ve never not gone to a state title, so you can take it for granted. It’s kind of an expectation at this point, but you’ve got to stay humble and each week you have to take it for the moment because you might never get it back again.”
The top-ranked Lions (13-0) will try to live in the moment and win a third straight regional title on Friday against third-ranked Columbus (12-1) at 7 p.m. at Tomball ISD Stadium. The Cardinals’ only loss this season came against 12-3A champion Hitchcock, 33-28, on Oct. 14. They opened the playoffs with wins over Lorena (24-21), Diboll (35-14) and Cameron Yoe (48-14).
Franklin beat the same three opponents 49-35, 35-23 and 63-7, respectively, during its season, so Columbus will be a mighty test.
“Columbus is a very talented football team,” coach Mark Fannin said. “They do things right over there. It should be a great football game.”
Against Hitchcock, Bryson Washington and Jayden Jackson took turns running rampant through the line for touchdowns, while the Lions’ defense shut down the Bulldogs for good after they pulled within 31-18 early in the third quarter.
“We knew coming into this one it was going to be a tough one,” Jackson said. “We came out with good preparation. The defense was flying to the ball and got some stops. On offense, we kept pushing the ball down their throats.”
Washington scored 22 first-half points on three touchdowns – the first on the game’s second play with a 56-yard run – a two-point conversion and a safety two plays after Cort Lowry’s 49-yard punt pinned Hitchcock at its own 1-yard line.
Washington finished with 167 yards on 17 carries, adding another two-point conversion in the second half, and four tackles on defense.
“It’s Bryson’s night a lot of nights,” Fannin said. “He’s just a heck of a football player. He’s a tough, hard-nosed kid and you’ve just got to love him.”
Washington’s third touchdown gave Franklin a 24-6 lead after a 10-play drive with 4:33 left in the first half.
After that, Jackson took over the scoring load, finding the end zone late in the second quarter for a 31-6 lead, midway through the third and early in the fourth quarter. Jackson had 93 yards on 16 carries.
His third-quarter score helped stem the Bulldogs’ comeback hopes, as they had cut their deficit to 31-18 just 94 seconds into the second half. Franklin used up 4:15 on the clock with a methodical nine-play, 51-yard drive with four different Lions running the ball effectively.
Hitchcock responded with a 16-play drive in a desperate attempt to stay in the game, but the wet conditions caused them to mishandle a couple of balls. The last one came on fourth-and-15 from the Franklin 26 on a fumble recovered by Jackson back at the Lions 45.
“After that, we talked about next play, next play,” Jackson said of Hitchcock getting within 13 points. “You can’t live in the past. When you live in the past, it brings you down.”
Five plays later, Jackson had his third touchdown one play after a Bulldogs defender had to pull Washington’s pants down to keep him from his fourth touchdown. That gave Franklin a 46-18 lead and the defense did its job the rest of the way.
Freshman quarterback Walker Anderson hit senior tight end Dean Rampy for a 22-yard touchdown pass and sophomore Wade Stallones kicked the final extra point. Junior linebacker Brady Rhoden ended Hitchcock’s last possession with an interception.
Fannin also admitted that winning so much can be easy to take for granted, but he said everyone is focused on each week.
“It is, but it’s always fun to play in December,” he said. “These kids have earned that. Like I’ve said 100s of times, these kids in Franklin are hard-working kids that love to win football games. My coaching staff is one of the best in my opinion at making adjustments and building relationships with these guys is huge. These guys have a great relationship with this staff, they love us and we love them. That goes a long ways.”
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