Tylertown downs Bulldogs in 7-3A district opener, 36-14

To see more than 100 pregame, contest and halftime pictures from Friday's varsity football game between Franklin County and Tylertown, click on this link: https://www.dotphoto.com/go.asp?l=franklinadvocate&AID=6843879&T=1

If Franklin County's varsity football district opener on Friday, Sept. 30 at home against Tylertown had a theme song, then Jerry Reed's "When You're Hot, You're Hot" would most likely have been the appropriate soundtrack.

That's because the Bulldogs seemed to be fairly hot before intermission, but after the mid-game break, Reed would have crooned correctly in saying "When You're Not, You're Not" in summing up a lukewarm FC performance that saw the home team ultimately suffer a heartbreaking 36-14 loss to the Indians.

The Dawgs recorded 231 all-purpose offensive yards — 125 on the ground via 38 carries and 106 aloft on a 7-18-0 passing effort — against the Indians.

On the other hand, Tylertown's ground game picked up 223 yards on 33 totes and the team recorded 137 yards in receptions through the airways.

"We had a chance to get back in the game to start the second half, but we completely melted down," FCHS Head Football Coach B.J. Smithhart said after the game. "We have nobody to blame for what happened other than ourselves because we let the game get away from us. We have another big ball game coming next Friday night, but we can't make the mistakes we did in this game and give ourselves a chance to win in the next game."

Smithhart said his team, despite dropped its district opener, can still battle for respect in the region and a shot at the playoffs with four other games still to be played.

"The thing we have to do is grow up and see what this team is made of," he continued. "We don't need to point fingers at everyone else and take responsibility for our actions and get our minds right as we prepare to play Jefferson County."

Tylertown scored on its second offensive possession of the game moving the ball from its own 46 to the end zone in just four plays with 4:51 remaining in the first quarter.

Ahmad Thompson capped the drive with an eight-yard run for the score and then punched in the two-point conversion pass from quarterback Keonnis Davis to push the Indians out to an early 8-0 advantage.

Franklin County responded immediately with tailback Xavier Rankin carrying the ball twice on a two-play series. His first run gained six yards to set up a second-and-four situation near the Bulldogs' 44 yard line. On the following play, quarterback Quez Rancifer handed off to Rankin again, who broke several tackles and streamed down the field for a 56-yard burst and the touchdown with 4:12 left to play in the initial frame.

A two-point conversion pass try by Rancifer went incomplete and FC had pulled to within two of the Tylertown lead, 8-6.

The teams traded possessions until the start of the second quarter when the Dawgs put together an eight-play, 39-yard drive in which Rankin and Tyrese O'Neal took turns carrying the ball as deep as the Tylertown 23 yard line. Facing a second-and-nine scenario, Rancifer dropped into the pocket and unloaded a 19-yard pass completion to receiver Donovan Moore, who was brought down near the 4 yard line.

Ranklin had back-to-back carries that pushed the ball to the 2 before Rancifer called his own number on third down and bulled his way over the goal line with 7:40 showing on the game clock in the second frame. Rancifer then hit Reshon Baker for a two-point conversion pass that put the Bulldogs on top for the first time in the contest, 14-8.

That lead would be short-lived, though, as the Indians rebounded with a less-than-four-minute drive that went 52 yards. Davis hit receiver Kendrell Robertson in stride on a 15-yard touchdown strike with 3:48 left until intermission. A successful two-point conversion run attempt by Thompson put Tylertown back on top by two, 16-14.

The Indians were able to put together a five-play, 65-yard series late in the second quarter to score again before the break with Thompson running the ball in from a yard out to end the drive. Thompson's follow-up two-point conversion run attempt was stopped by the Bulldogs' defense and the visiting team carried a 22-14 lead into the locker room.

After taking the second-half kickoff, Franklin County crafted its longest offensive series of the night — a 10-play effort that chewed up 59 yards of real estate and lasted almost five minutes. The drive sputtered, however, when the Bulldogs failed to pick up sufficient yardage to convert a fourth and three near the Indians' 11 yard line.

Tylertown took over on downs and answered with a five-play drive capped by a 49-yard touchdown scamper by Thompson with 5:16 left in the third quarter. Davis' two-point conversion pass attempt failed, but the Indians padded their lead, 28-14, and seemingly took away Franklin County's momentum from that point forward.

The Bulldogs' offense went four and out on its next series with Rancifer being dropped for a 12-yard loss on a fourth and two deep inside his own territory. Tylertown scored again — this time on a four-play effort where Davis connected with receiver Demario Harrell on a 6-yard touchdown pass with 1:52 remaining in the frame. Davis ran in the two-point conversion and lifted the Indians to a 36-14 lead that would hold the rest of the way.

FC mustered three more offensive series through the fourth quarter, but had little to show in the way of production as Tylertown's defense stiffened and limited the Bulldogs' running and passing games.

Ranklin finished the night as the Bulldogs' top rusher with 107 yards on 14 carries while teammate O'Neal gained 35 yards on 10 totes.

Rancifer rushed 10 times for -19 yards, and went 7-18-0 through the air for 106 yards. Moore had six pass receptions for Franklin County and gained 87 yards while Baker had one snare for a 19-yard gain.

Defensively, Ja Norman and Remontae Cameron paced the Bulldogs with 10 tackles each while Peyton Touchstone, Jailon Brown and O'Neal combined for eight take-downs each.

Brown and Nic Perryman each had a sack with Moore and Josh Smith both collecting fumble recoveries for the Bulldogs' defense.

Franklin County, with a 4-2 overall record on the season and 0-1 in 7-3A district play, will travel to Fayette on Friday, Oct. 7 to face regional foe Jefferson County High School in varsity gridiron action. Kickoff for the contest is slated for 7 p.m.

SCORE BY QUARTER

FCHS 6 8 0 0 — 14

THS 8 14 14 0 — 36

SCORING SUMMARY

FIRST QUARTER

THS — 4:51, Ahmad Thompson 7-yard touchdown run. Keonnis Davis to Thompson 2-point coversion pass.

FCHS — 4:12, Xavier Rankin 56-yard touchdown run. Quez Rancifer 2-point conversion pass fails.

SECOND QUARTER

FCHS — 7:40, Rancifer 2-yard touchdown run. Rancifer to Reshon Baker 2-point conversion pass.

THS — 3:48, Davis to Kendrell Robertson 15-yard touchdown pass. Thompson 2-point conversion run.

THS — 1:06, Thompson 1-yard touchdown run. Two-point conversion run fails.

THIRD QUARTER

THS — 5:16, Thompson 49-yard touchdown run. Davis 2-point conversion pass fails.

THS — 1:52, Davis to Demario Harrell 6-yard touchdown pass. Davis 2-point conversion run.

TEAM STATISTICS

FIRST DOWNS — FCHS 8; THS 15

RUSHES-YARDS — FCHS 38-125; THS 33-223

PASSES — FCHS 7-18-0; THS 10-16-0

YARDS — FCHS 106; THS 137

THIRD DOWNS-CONVERSIONS — FCHS 2-of-10; THS 3-of-8

FOURTH DOWNS-CONVERSION — FCHS 1-of-5; THS 1-of-1

PENALTIES-YARDS — FCHS 4-35; THS 12-121

PUNTS-AVERAGE — FCHS 4-30.0; THS 4-21.0

FUMBLES-LOST — FCHS 2-1; THS 3-1

INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS

RUSHING — Xavier Rankin, 14-107; Tyrese O'Neal, 10-35; Reshon Baker, 1-0; Keyundre Felton, 1-(-2); Jailon Brown, 2-(-6); Quez Rancifer, 10-(-19).

PASSING — Quez Rancifer, 7-18-0, 106 yards.

RECEIVING — Donovan Moore, 6-87; Reshon Baker 1-19.

TACKLES — Ja Norman, 10; Remontae Cameron, 10; Peyton Touchstone, 8; Jailon Brown, 8; Tyrese O'Neal, 8; Jaquez Anderson, 4; Keyundre Felton, 4; Reshon Baker, 3; Xavier Rankin, 3; Nic Perryman, 2; Jaiden Hunt, 2; Donovan Moore, 2; Jay Malone, 2; Eric Dyer, 1; Josh Smith, 1; Zorian O'Quinn, 1; Devin Coleman, 1.

SACKS — Jailon Brown, 1; Nic Perryman, 1.

FUMBLE RECOVERIES — Donovan Moore, 1; Josh Smith, 1.

Statistics compiled by Trey Hill, Mark Davis and Sean Dunlap