The Franklinton Demons football team ended their regular season against the Prairieville Hurricanes last Friday on the road.
The Hurricanes came out on top of the Demons 27-21 as they scored a last minute touchdown to break a 21-21 tie.
The Demons finish the regular season with a 3-7 record but will qualify for the playoffs. They will face off with a familiar opponent, the Salmen Spartans. The Demons lost to them earlier in the season and this will be the fourth time in their history that they have played Salmen twice in the same season. This will be the second time they have met in the playoffs with the other time being the now legendary 2009 semi-final playoff game otherwise known as the "Snow Game" that the Demons won 60-0.
Against the Hurricanes the Demons got down 7-0 late in the first before answering with a 33 yard field goal just before halftime for a score of 7-3. The Demons were in the red zone twice in the first half but turned the ball over on downs once and had a pass picked off on the other one.
In the second half the Demons went on top with a 77 yard catch and run by Jayden Burkhalter for a touchdown that put them up 10-7. The Hurricanes answered with a long drive for a score to go up 14-10 before they scored again on their next drive for a 21-10 lead late in the third period.
The Demons defense blocked a field goal and scored on the ensuing drive in the fourth period with a nice 22 yard field goal to cut the score to 21-13 with 3:04 left in the game.
After forcing a three and out the Demons took over with 1:55 on the clock and drove for a score as Burkhalter again scored, this time from 43 yards. With the score at 21-19 the Demons had to go for the two point conversion. Diddon handed the ball to Ricardo Burris going left who then reversed it to Burkhalter going right who then pulled up and passed the ball to a wide open Diddon in the endzone. This tied the game at 21-21 with 1:26 left in the game.
The Hurricanes drove to score on a 26 yard pass with :31 left on the clock. The Demons drove to just over midfield but a long pass to the goal line was intercepted to end the game.
Coach Nick Saltaformaggio spoke of the game afterwards. "It was a great high school game. I couldn't have asked more of the way our players played. Many teams in that environment after a tough season would have folded. We played as hard as we could for as long as we could. That is a testament to our program and the character of our players. I'm proud of them and proud to be a Demon."
Kerston Diddon passed for 319 yards, two touchdowns and two interceptions on 19 of 34 attempts. He also rushed for 58 yards on 11 attempts. Jayden Burkhalter had 10 receptions for 199 yards and two touchdowns. Chakyn McClain caught 4 for 68, Ricardo Burris caught 2 for 7, Steven Tate caught 1 for 26 and Rhett Anderson caught 1 for 13. Burris rushed 8 times for 4 yards, Tate rushed 2 times for 3 yards and McClain rushed 2 times for 7 yards. Liam Young was 2 of 2 on field goals and also 2 for 2 on extra point attempts.
