Brotherly bonds, some of it actual brothers, produce another playoff blowout for Lions
By DOUGLAS PILS
(First published in the Franklin News Weekly)
BELTON – Coach Mark Fannin and his staff spend all year building bonds among the diverse group of guys playing football for the Franklin Lions so that when one player succeeds everyone supports that success.
And sometimes, the brotherly bond comes natural because there are four sets of brothers making a difference for a team that’s now 13-0 and headed to the Region IV-3A-II final after a 60-0 victory over Riesel on Nov. 26 at Tiger Stadium.
One of those sets scored five of the Lions’ eight touchdowns, with senior Malcolm Murphy running for three and freshman Jayden Jackson adding two.
“It’s special. I knew he could do it and he’s special,” said Murphy, who only needed four carries to lead the Lions with 149 of their 527 yards rushing. “I love (my brother) to death. We don’t argue about it. We knew we were going to be great together.”
Jackson had 92 yards on four carries to give him 808 in a fun season for the family.
“It’s what we do,” Jackson said. “It means a lot to me that I can play one year together in high school, so we’re doing to do all we can do.”
The Washington brothers also played a big part in the Lions’ shutout and the third straight playoff rout. Junior Bryson Washington ran for 87 yards and a touchdown on three carries, scored on a 52-yard catch and made seven tackles on defense, while senior Bobby Washington ran for 77 yards and a score on 11 carries.
Bryson Washington surpassed 1,000 yards on the season, giving him 1,054, while big brother Bobby pushed his team-high to 1,350. So far in the playoffs, the Washingtons and Murphy have taken turns leading Franklin’s ground game.
“We just play our game and whoever gets called, gets called,” said Murphy, who needs 14 rushing yards to reach 1,000. “We’ve got a three-headed monster in the backfield, so it’s hard for teams to deal with that.”
The brothers also include sophomores Braden Smith at tight end and linebacker Colby Smith, who led the team with nine tackles on Friday, and senior back Kyle Medders and junior lineman Colton Medders.
“It’s a cool family thing,” Fannin said. “We always preach brotherhood to these guys and it’s really special when you have actual blood brothers on the team. We have four sets of them. It’s fun to watch and it’s fun to watch them compete and love on each other.”
The competition with Riesel ended early as Bryson Washington gave Franklin an 8-0 lead with a 52-yard run on the first play from scrimmage and he converted the two-point run. He also set up the drive with a 20-yard kickoff return.
After a three-and-out by the Indians, Murphy ripped off a 60-yard touchdown on the first play for a 15-0 lead with just 2:24 gone off the game clock. By the end of the first quarter it was 29-0 after the Washingtons took turns scoring and the defense led by Colby Smith and Braden Youree, who had seven tackles and a sack, limited Riesel to one first down in the quarter.
The second quarter started with a 24-yard field goal by Seth Shamblin, who has now made all 26 of his playoff extra-point attempts. Murphy added a 59-yard scoring run and Jackson capped a six-play drive with a 1-yard dive to give the Lions a 46-0 halftime lead.
On the first two drives of the second half, Murphy scored on a 1-yard run and Jackson showed his speed and power on a 61-yard score.
Darren Daughtery made his team-high fourth interception of the season and he broke up two passes to give him a team-high 14.
“We’ve been working all week and practicing and working and it just came natural,” Daughtery said of his interception. “I just saw the ball and went after it. I saw him coming across, so I just did my thing.”
The defense secured the shutout as the second unit kept the Indians in check giving the Lions a 579-89 edge in total yards for the game.
“It was very important. It was the second (shutout),” senior lineman Parker Boyett said. “We try to rack them up, especially for Coach Will (Hedrick) because he coaches us up.
“You have to play every game like you’re playing in the state championship and Coach Fannin tells us that all of the time. You have to take it week by week and treat every team the same.”
That will be important words as Franklin heads to Pflugerville on Friday at 7 p.m. to face the Poth Pirates, who are 11-1 and their only loss is to 13-0 Shiner. Poth has five shutouts and it beat East Bernard in the area round.
Fannin expects the Lions to prepare like they have each week.
“Our preparation all year long has been pretty consistent,” he said. “We’ve got a special group of kids that work hard and we’re going to continue to do that.”
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