Blue Waves over wash Bulldogs, 28-14

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Franklin County started strong in its varsity football regular season home finale on Friday, Oct. 14, but wound up being shut-out during the second half of the contest in a 28-14 loss to 7-3A district foe Port Gibson at Louie Mullins Memorial Stadium in Meadville.

"We were just flat and not really ready to play and that's on me," Bulldogs' Head Football Coach B.J. Smithhart said after the game. "It seemed like we didn't want it for whatever reason, but there are things we can learn from this game that will hopefully translate into us getting better in the stretch run of the regular season."

Statistically, the Bulldogs rushed the football 40 times for 118 yards while gaining another 108 through the air on a 6-18-0 throwing performance by FC quarterback Quez Rancifer.

Tyrese O'Neal led the way on the ground with six carries for 46 yards while Rancifer scrambled 14 times for 34 yards to pace the Franklin County running effort. Additionally, Keyundre Felton recorded five totes for 22 yards, Xavier Rankin — before going out with a leg injury — had 10 rushes for 17 yards and Jailon Brown took five handoffs for minus-one yard.

With receiver Donovan Moore also out of the line-up with an ankle sprain, Rancifer had success finding Reshon Baker, who led the team with four snares for 85 yards and a pair of touchdowns. Jaiden Hunt and Jaquez Anderson both had catches for 15 and eight yards, respectively, in the game.

Despite what seemed at times like a lethargic first half, Port Gibson found ways to not only move the ball, but also score on big plays before intermission.

The visiting Blue Waves had 217 rushing yards on 34 carries — which included a 63-yard touchdown on the ground — and 109 receiving yards — involving a 70-yard scoring pass — on a 3-13-0 effort by quarterback Cameron Gibson.

FC was hurt by five fumbles in the contest — with two of those resulting in turnovers, but those did not translate to points for the Blue Waves.

Port Gibson set the tempo of the contest early when tailback Jeremiah Crystian broke loose on the first play of the game from his own 36 yard line for a rushing touchdown with 11:39 remaining in the first quarter. Gibson fumbled the football on the two-point conversion attempt and FC's defense did the rest to keep the Blue Waves' lead at 6-0.

Franklin County answered immediately on its first offensive series with a nine-play effort capped by a 33-yard aerial strike from Rancifer to Baker for the touchdown with 7:53 left to play in the frame.

The drive that started at the Bulldogs' 28 yard line was boosted on the ground with a trio of runs for 19 yards by Felton, a 13-yard pick-up by O'Neal and a 12-yard push by Rankin to put the ball well inside Port Gibson territory.

With a first down at the point, Rancifer had to fall on a fumble caused by a high snap at midfield and saw a pass attempt to Anderson fall incomplete to bring up a third and 32 at the 50 yard line.

O'Neal subsequently took the handoff and gained 17 yards before FC's Rancifer-to-Baker gut-check, fourth down scoring play. Rancifer ran in the two-point conversion to give the Bulldogs' an 8-6 lead.

Port Gibson scored again with 8:52 left before intermission on a three-play drive, but it seemed the series would stall after the Blue Waves were called on two penalties of five yards each in the series.

After a false start call brought up second-down-and-14 from the PGHS 30, Gibson lobbed a 70-yard pass to Quavion Barnes for another touchdown.

Crystian ran in the two-point conversion to give the Waves a 14-8 lead.

The Dawgs answered again just before intermission with a four-minute drive that started at the FC 40. Rankin and O'Neal moved the ball to just beyond midfield inside Port Gibson territory before the former went down with an injury and would not return to play down the stretch.

From there, Rancifer would hit Baker three times through the air with the final pass a seven-yard connection in the corner of the end zone for the score. Rancifer's two-point conversion run attempt was stopped short, but the effort resulted in a 14-all tie that held through intermission.

FC had five offensive series after the mid-game break and found no rhythm in looking for another score.

The same could not be said for Port Gibson, which essentially put the game away with a 35-yard touchdown pass from Gibson to Damion Miller with 4:07 left in the third quarter followed by a two-point conversion run by the Blue Waves' Jaquavian Barber.

PGHS got an insurance score with 7:58 remaining in the game when Crystian capped a four-play drive with a seven-yard run that set the final margin of victory for the Waves at 28-14.

Defensively, Ja Norman led the Bulldogs with a team-high 11 tackles while Peyton Touchstone added nine, Zorian O'Quinn recorded seven and Baker chipped in six. Larry Pernell, Felton and O'Neal accounted for four tackles each and Remontae Cameron finished with three.

The Bulldogs, with a 4-4 record on the season and 0-3 in 7-3A regional play, returns to action on Friday, Oct. 21 with the district finale against Wilkinson County in Woodville. Kickoff for the contest is set for 7 p.m.

SCORING BY QUARTERS

FCHS 8 6 0 0 — 14

PGHS 6 8 8 6 — 28

SCORING SUMMARY

FIRST QUARTER

11:39 — PGHS, Jeremiah Crystian 63-yard touchdown run. Two-point conversion run fails.

7:53 — FCHS, Quez Rancifer to Reshon Baker 33-yard touchdown pass. Rancifer two-point conversion run.

SECOND QUARTER

8:52 — PGHS, Cameron Gibson to Quavion Barnes 70-yard touchdown pass. Crystian two-point conversion run.

2:08 — FCHS, Rancifer to Baker 7-yard touchdown pass. Two-point conversion run fails.

THIRD QUARTER

4:07 — PGHS, Gibson to Damion Miller 35-yard touchdown pass. Jaquavian Barber two-point conversion run.

FOURTH QUARTER

7:58 — PGHS, Crystian 7-yard touchdown run. Two-point conversion run fails.

TEAM STATISTICS

FIRST DOWNS — FCHS 14; PGHS 10

RUSHES-YARDS — FCHS 40-118; PGHS 34-217

PASSES — FCHS 6-18-0; PGHS 3-13-0

YARDS — FCHS 108; PGHS 109

THIRD DOWNS-CONVERSIONS — FCHS 5-of-12; PGHS 3-of-11

FOURTH DOWNS-CONVERSIONS — FCHS 1-of-4; PGHS 2-of-5

PENALTIES-YARDS — FCHS 3-20; PGHS 5-35

PUNTS-AVERAGE — FCHS 4-24.0; PGHS 1-30.0

FUMBLES-LOST — FCHS 5-2; PGHS 3-0

INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS

RUSHING — Tyrese O'Neal, 6-46; Quez Rancifer, 14-34; Keyundre Felton, 5-22; Xavier Rankin, 10-17; Jailon Brown, 5-(-1).

PASSING — Quez Rancifer, 6-18-0, 108 yards

RECEIVING — Reshon Baker 4-85; Jaiden Hunt, 1-15; Jaquez Anderson, 1-8.

TACKLES — Ja Norman, 11; Peyton Touchstone, 9; Zorian O'Quinn, 7; Reshon Baker, 6; Tyrese O'Neal, 4; Larry Pernell, 4; Keyundre Felton, 4; Remontae Cameron, 3; Jaquez Anderson, 2; Jailon Brown, 2; Xavier Rankin, 1; Devin Coleman, 1; Josh Smith, 1.

Statistics by Trey Hill, Lane B. Reed and Sean Dunlap