The Franklinton Demons football team travelled to Mandeville last week for a jamboree game against the Skippers. After a hard fought game, with a great portion of it played in a steady rain, the Demons fell 20-0.
The Skippers began with possession and the Demons defense held them to a three and out. The Demons then drove steadily down inside the five yard line where the Skippers intercepted a pass and returned it for a touchdown.
On the Demons ensuing drive they again drove inside the five of the Skippers before it was ruled that the Skippers had stripped the back of the football. The 7-0 score would be the score at halftime.
Neither team scored on their initial drives in the second half but the Skippers blocked a punt for a touchdown with 9:34 left in the second half and scored again on a 44 yard pass with 7:22 left. Coach Salt then put the second team in to finish out the game.
Coach Nick Saltaformaggio saw some good things but also some things to be worked on.
"Our kids played with a lot of effort. We simply made too many mistakes. The turnovers in the red zone were obviously critical. We showed the ability to move the ball, but were inconsistent. Our struggles in the run game are very limiting. Defensively, I thought we did some good things. They only scored one offensive touchdown. One was a blocked punt and the other was a pick six. So, we have to get those things cleaned up quickly. We just have to put all the pieces of the puzzle together. The good thing for us is that we do have the ability to throw the ball and I thought there were a lot of positives defensively."
Jacob Crain passed for 142 yards on seven completions of sixteen attempts with two interceptions while also rushing for ten yards. Jayden Burkhalter caught three for 92 yards, Chakyn McClain had three for 40 and Ricardo Burris had one for 10 yards.
Jayden Burkhalter rushed twice for 22 yards, Ricardo Burris rushed five times for 11 yards, Rayden Raborn had 7 carries for 9 yards and Stephen Tate had three carries for 5 yards.
The Demons will open their regular season this Friday against the Amite Warriors on the road. The Demons defeated Amite last season 19-12.
