The Franklinton Demons football team lost a hard fought game to the Hannan Hawks last week on the road, 40-26.
After leading at halftime 20-10 the Demons gave up 30 points in the second half to fall in their district opener. The 2-4, 0-1 Demons will host 4-2, 0-1 Pearl River this week.
The Hawks scored first in the game as they hit a field goal to go up 3-0. The Demons answered back with a nice drive that Ricardo Burris capped off with a 4 yard touchdown run. The two point conversion was no good and the Demons led 6-3. After forcing a punt the Demons went up 13-3 at the 5:59 mark of the second quarter when Burris went in from 16 yards out.
The Hawks scored on a 72 yard pass to cut the gap to 13-10 before the Demons responded with a 39 yard touchdown pass from Kerston Diddon to Jayden Burkhalter. Franklinton’s Taylor McCray ended a Hawk drive with an interception before halftime.
The Hawks opened the second half with a 17 yard run to score, recovered an onside kick and scored again on a 21 yard run to take the lead at 24-20. The Demons took the lead back late in the third period at 26-24 when Ricardo Burris ripped off a 44 yard touchdown run.
The Hawks then scored on a long pass to go up 32-26. After the Demons punted the Hawks burned a lot of time off the clock with a drive that ended with a blocked field goal at the :43 mark of the fourth to give the Demons a last chance.
A fumble was recovered by the Hawks and the runner dove into the endzone for the final score of the game and a final score of 40-26.
FHS Coach Nick Saltaformaggio was disappointed but knows what needs to be done.
"There is only one way out of this mess and that is to work hard and work smart. I know that our program is not where we thought it would be, but we are not going to stop working and trying. Our morale is good which is evident by how hard we continue to play. I want our players to know that we care for them and appreciate them and as the leader of Demon football I will do all that I can to get us back in the win column."
Kerston Diddon was 9 of 18 passing for 113 yards, a touchdown and two interceptions while rushing for 69 yards on 8 carries. Jayden Burkhalter caught 4 passes for 66 yards and a touchdown, Chakyn McClain caught 3 for 46 and Burris caught 2 for 1. Burris was the leading rusher with 111 yards and two touchdowns on 15 carries, Steven Tate had one rush for 0 yards, McClain had one for 5 yards and Burkhalter had one for 1 yard.
