Back-to-back: Franklin wins second title on last-second field goal

State final, Dec. 15, 2022
Franklin 17, Brock 14

By Douglas Pils

ARLINGTON – So many things went right to set up Cort Lowry’s 20-yard field goal to give the Franklin Lions the Class 3A, Division I state championship over the Brock Eagles as time expired Thursday at AT&T Stadium.

As always, Franklin’s pair of 2,000-yard rushers in senior Bryson Washington and sophomore Jayden Jackson played a big part, handling the ball on all but four plays. 

However, the biggest thing might have been the defense forcing two red-zone turnovers and scoring once when Devyn Hidrogo and Fragiel Owens teamed up on a 64-yard strip and fumble return. That made it possible for the Lions to rip off a Franklin-esque 16-play, 68-yard drive that ate up the final 5:54 of the game before deep snapper Josh Bush, holder Blake Autrey and Lowry set off a wild celebration for the Lions’ back-to-back state championships. 

“That’s just a matter of effort. This defense has been playing for the past several weeks some top-notch defense,” said Mark Fannin, who’s now 44-3 with a 32-game win streak and two state titles in three championship game appearances in three years as Franklin’s coach. “I’ve got a lot of smart football players and it takes that to play defense. You’ve got to be smart, tough and disciplined.”

Smart, tough and disciplined was on display early in the second quarter when junior linebacker Colby Smith pressured Brock quarterback Tyler Moody to pass while backing up and junior linebacker Brayden Youree intercepted it at the Franklin 4. It came up again when Washington stripped Eagles running back Brett Tutter and Youree recovered at the Franklin 13 in the third quarter. 

Brock tied the game at 7-7 on a 25-yard run by Reid Watkins after a Franklin fumble with 3:07 left in the third quarter, but then the Lions defense came up with its biggest play of the night less than four minutes into the fourth quarter. 

Moody completed a pass to Zachary Brewster for a first down, but after 12 yards he was met by Hidrogo and then Owens. Hidrogo, a junior, tugged with everything he had, transferring the ball to Owens at the Franklin 34. Owens, a senior, spun around, made Moody miss at the Brock 45 and raced down the Franklin sideline to score. 

Lowry’s extra point made it 14-7 with 8:22 left in the game. 

“That play really, if I’m being honest, Devyn is really the reason that play happened,” said Owens, whose forced fumble at the goal line helped alter the Lions’ big win over Lorena during district play. “He took it and gave it to me and I was like, ‘I gotta go score or something.’ I took off running and I saw the first guy miss and it was off to the races now. I just had to go score. That was it.”

Brock needed just four plays and 69 yards to answer and tie the game at 14-14 after completions of 39 yards to Jhett Jones and then a 34-yard touchdown to Tutter with 5:59 to go. 

Owens started off the final drive right with a 22-yard kickoff return to the Franklin 32 for his second big play with the ball in his final game for the Lions. 

Washington, who had 87 yards on 26 carries, and Jackson, who led the way with 146 yards on 24 carries, took turns moving the ball methodically down the field. Jackson converted a fourth-and-2 with a tough 3-yard run at the Brock 35 and then the Lions faced third-and-8 from the 30. 

Up to that point, Franklin had run 48 plays, all of them runs. In 2021, the Lions beat Gunter for the 3A-DII title without completing a pass, but now it was time to call on the confidence gained from three touchdown passes against Edna in the state semifinals. 

Lowry found Hidrogo for his 12th reception of the season for 14 yards to the Eagles 16. Washington converted a third-and-1 with a 6-yard run to the 1 and Brock used its final timeout with 1:14 left in the game.

“That’s Franklin football,” Fannin said. “That’s what we’re about. It’s controlling the clock. Three or four yards a carry. It couldn’t come down to a better situation for us.”  

Washington and Jackson each took a crack at the end zone, but then Fannin elected to let time dwindle down to 3 seconds for Lowry to try to win it. Overtime awaited if he missed.

Lowry, who missed a 37-yard attempt after Franklin’s first drive of the game took 8:21 of the first quarter, was confident. 

“It’s like we practice field goals every day in practice and it’s really nothing,” said Lowry, who was third on the team with 87 points scored this season. “I go out there and do that every day, so I just went out there and did my thing. 

“It felt amazing coming off that miss. I didn’t really doubt myself because I knew I could do it, but making that last one sure did feel good.”

Fannin expressed the same optimism. 

“I don’t get real nervous in the game. I don’t,” Fannin said. “I have a lot of trust in these guys. I had a great feeling that that sucker was going to go in and I couldn’t be more proud of Cort and the snap. It takes a lot. It’s the snap, the hold, it takes the line to block. It all came together at the right time tonight.”

That set off a second straight celebration that felt just as jubilant as it did in 2021. Perhaps that’s because Franklin started the season ranked No. 1 despite moving up from Division II to Division I, but the Lions found a way to overcome each week and finish 16-0 once again. 

They are the sixth team in Texas history to win back-to-back after moving up a classification. China Spring became the seventh on Friday in Class 4A. 

“I couldn’t be more proud of my kids for how they faced multiple adversity situations tonight and they overcame them,” Fannin said. “They’ve been doing that all year long.”

The first piece of adversity that had to be overcome on Thursday, was finding the end zone. The game appeared to be headed to halftime tied at 0-0 when the Lions took over at their own 20 with 3:14 to go after Brock missed a 35-yard field goal. 

Washington converted a third-and-5 with a 9-yard run and then Jackson finally broke free around the left end for a 45-yard run down to the Brock 21. He stiff-armed an Eagles defender to the ground after getting past the line. 

Five plays later, Jackson bounced around the left end again and dove across the left edge of the zone 15 seconds before halftime. As odd as it sounds, for a team that scored 49 points against Gunter in the 2021 state title game, it was Franklin’s only offensive touchdown of the night. 

That drive alone gave Jackson the Offensive MVP of the game award, matching the award won by his brother Malcolm Murphy after the 2021 title. Jackson was a force on defense, too, making three tackles for a loss among his five tackles. 

“Brock, I know, was a tough team and they were probably keying on me, but without this dude right here (pointing at Jackson) a lot of things wouldn’t be possible,” Washington said. “I’m just thankful for him being here and running the ball hard and playing smash-mouth football.”

Jackson finished the year leading the team with 2,212 yards on 238 carries, while Washington was close behind with 2,131 yards on 244 carries. Jackson got the edge in scoring with 194 points to Washington’s 192 after both finished with 11 touchdowns in the six playoff games.  

Owens earned Defensive MVP honors with his fumble return and three tackles. In addition to his interception and fumble recovery, Youree had a sack and two tackles for a loss in his five tackles and Smith led the team with 14 tackles. That pushed Smith’s team-best to 176 on the season, while Youree finished with 158. 

Washington, who heads to Baylor to start the spring semester in a few weeks, and 16 seniors finish their careers with two state titles and a 44-3 record over the past three seasons. 

“I feel good that we won the game, but once I saw that kick go in it was sad when I thought to myself that I would never be able to step on the field with my brothers again,” Washington said. “That hurt my heart.”

He can be lifted by knowing his class leaves a legacy of greatness and a coach who’s raised them up and he’s committed to doing the same for many more Franklin Lions. 

“I’m not going anywhere. I’m at a very, very special place,” said Fannin, a 41-year-old Franklin grad. “I plan on retiring right here in Franklin. I’ve got a lot of pride here in Franklin. I’ve been very blessed with the people who have given me this opportunity. I ain’t going nowhere. It’s a great place to raise your family and I’m just blessed to be here.”