Trojans edge past Bulldogs

FOXWORTH — Despite a strong start, Franklin County wound up on the short end of a 19-0 decision Friday, Aug. 19 in the preseason football jamboree played against the West Marion High School Trojans.

The format for the contest was two 12-minute quarters with the participants trading possessions throughout much of the early going.

Franklin opened with possession of the football and saw tailback Tyrese O’Neal move it from the Bulldogs’ 25 to as deep as the 39.

The series stalled, however, when O’Neal and Reshon Baker were both dropped for back-to-back ground losses of two yards each and FC was forced to punt on fourth down.

West Marion’s initial offensive drive was both hampered and helped when the Trojans were flagged for holding and, two plays later, Franklin County was called for a personal foul.

The series moved from the Trojans’ 37 to as deep as the Bulldogs’ 35 before FC’s defense tightened and forced West Marion to punt.

Despite an offside call against West Marion, Franklin’s second offensive series was short-lived with quarterback Quez Rancifer having a pass go incomplete, and tailback Jailon Brown stopped twice for six yards in losses on the ground.

With 4:09 remaining in the first quarter and after a six-yard Bulldogs’ punt, West Marion got the ball at the FC 18.

Two plays into the series, the Trojans had driven as deep as the 5-yard line and a personal foul penalty against FC moved the ball ahead to the 3.

Franklin’s defense came up with a key 2-yard loss to keep the Trojans out of the end zone and then West Marion was flagged on a hold, an illegal block and a false start — all in a row — to move the ball backwards to almost the 30-yard line.

The Trojans ultimately connected on a 29-yard quarterback Jude Stringer to Jakaden Mark touchdown strike with 1:14 left to play in the opening stanza and took a 6-0 lead.

The point-after kick try came up short for West Marion.

Franklin County’s third offensive series came to an abrupt halt when Rancifer picked up a fumble on third and 10 from the Trojans’ 48 and lobbed a pass down field that was picked off to give West Marion possession at its own 30.

On the first play of the Trojans’ next series, West Marion’s Mark raced through the Franklin defense and scored a 70-yard rushing touchdown less than 90 seconds into the second quarter.

The point-after try was successful and the home team opened a 13-0 bulge over the Bulldogs.

With 10:02 left in the contest, Rancifer had some key plays by connecting twice with Donovan Moore through the air for 33 yards and Keyundre Felton had two totes for 16 yards.

The series ended on a fourth-and-six scenario at the West Marion 25 as a Rancifer pass to Baker went incomplete and the ball went over on downs.

FC had two other drives before time expired, but both stagnated near midfield.

The Trojans strung together one final scoring effort on a four-play drive with 1:50 left in regulation that ended with a 35-yard touchdown run.

The post-touchdown kick try was no good, but West Marion had moved out to a 19-0 lead that would hold through the final horn.

On the night, Franklin had 29 yards on the ground on 20 carries with Felton and Jailon Brown both gaining 16 yards apiece on two and four carries, respectively.

O’Neal had three carries for nine yards, Moore had one for three yards while Rancifer had six totes for -3 yards.

Xavier Rankin and Baker recorded two rushes each for -6 yards apiece.

Rancifer was 4-10-1 in the passing department for 54 yards with a single connection to Baker for 16 yards and hitting Moore three times for 38 yards.

FC had six first downs in the jamboree, went 2-for-7 on third-down conversions and was 0-for-2 on fourth-down attempts.

The Dawgs were flagged four times for 28 yards and had a total of three fumbles with one of those resulting in a turnover.

West Marion had 15 carries for 140 yards and was 1-3-0 through the airways for 29 yards.

The Trojans wound up with six first downs, were 1-for-3 on third-down conversions and did not attempt a fourth-down conversion.

The home team was flagged five times for 40 yards.

Franklin’s defense was paced by Felton, O’Neal, Baker, Peyton Touchstone, Ramsey Brown, Jaquez Anderson and Josh Smith who had three tackles each.

Moore, Jailon Brown and Jaiden Hunt record two tackles each while Larry Pernell, Remontae Cameron and Rankin had one each.

Felton, Pernell and Zorian O’Quinn each recorded a sack.

Franklin County will open its regular season on Friday, Aug. 26 with a road game at West Lincoln with kickoff slated for 7:30 p.m.