The Franklinton Demons defeated their final regular season opponent, the Hannan Hawks, 41-17 last Friday on homecoming night.
The Demons end their regular season with a fine 7-3 overall record and 3-1 in district and finish as the district runners-up. They have qualified for the Non-Select Division II playoffs as the 8 seed and will host the 25 seeded Rayne Wolves this Friday. The Wolves are 4-6 on the season.
The Demons got on the board first when Ricardo Burris went in from two yards out for a 7-0 score late in the first quarter. The Hawks tied the game early in the second before Burris again scored for the Demons to push the score to 14-7 with 3:06 left in the second. The Hawks managed a field goal just before halftime for a 14-10 Demons lead at the intermission.
The Demons came out in the second half with a solid drive that ended with Burris scoring for the third time on a 15 yard run to put the Demons up 20-10.
After Rajon Covington recovered a fumble the Demons scored again as Covington ran it in from a yard out to push the score to 27-10. The Hawks scored early in the fourth for a 27-17 score but the Demons scored twice more in the period to run away with the game at 41-17. Damikies McClain caught a 27 yard pass for a touchdown and Rayden Rayborn scored on an 13 yard run.
Coach Nick Saltaformaggio was pleased with how his team performed and where they are as a program.
"We ended on a high note, continuing to win. Ricardo Burris really had a good night and we didn't have an offensive penalty. We really did a lot of things that we really needed to do and come out and dominate the second half. I think we're going to have a really nice seed and we're set up for a nice run again. We're on a nice run as a program at 16-4 over the last two regular seasons and that's where I always envisioned the program to be, and now its survive and move on."
Quarterback Jacob Crain completed 12 of 16 passes for 131 yards and one touchdown and rushed once for 3 yards.
DaMikies McClain had a big night receiving with 93 yards and a touchdown on 7 receptions.
Jayden Burkhalter caught 3 for 30 yards, Dalton Freeman caught one for 11, and Rayden Rayborn caught one for no yards.
Ricardo Burris rushed 19 times for 113 yards and 3 touchdowns.
Rayborn rushed 11 times for 55 yards and a touchdown.
Burkhalter rushed twice for 12 yards and Rajon Covington rushed once for one yard and a touchdown.
Liam Young was 5 of 5 on extra points.
