The Franklinton Demons football team survived a non-district game with the Abbeville Wildcats last Friday, 50-12. The win moves the Demons’ overall record to 6-1. The Demons will travel to Pearl River this week as they resume district action. Pearl River is 3-3 on the season and they are desperate for a win to qualify for the playoffs.
Abbeville opened the game with a promising drive that the Demons’ defense stopped at their fifteen yard line. The Demons then marched down to score with 5:17 left in the first to go up 7-0 after Gabe Ezell's extra point. Abbeville then answered after intercepting a pass and scoring on the ensuing drive to cut the lead to 7-6 as their extra point kick was blocked.
The Demons offense then got back on track as they scored on a seven yard run by quarterback Jacob Crain. The Demons went for two with Sy Austin converting for a 15-6 lead late in the first. Conner Magee caught a thirty three yard pass for a touchdown on their next possession to put them up 22-6.
Abbeville then scored on their drive to cut the Demons’ lead to 22-12 as their two point conversion was no good. An onside kick was successful for the Wildcats but they could not score and the 22-12 score would be the halftime score.
The Demons opened the second half with a nice kickoff return to the Wildcats 25 and Austin scored from 25 yards out to put the Demons up 29-12. They scored again after the Wildcats fumbled to go up 36-12 with 10:36 left in the third. The Wildcats responded and drove to the Demons’ one yard line, but the Demons defense stood up and held them there and took over on downs.
From the one, Conner Magee ripped off a 94 yard run to set the Demons up in scoring position. Sy Austin took it in from there and the Demons were up 43-12. The Demons blocked a Wildcat punt, setting them up at the Wildcat thirty and Ricardo Burris scored from eleven yards out to put the Demons up 50-12 with 1:18 left in the third.
The clock then went into running time with just over a minute left in the third and after Abbeville ran three plays at the beginning of the fourth, the officials called the game with over seven minutes left on the clock. It was reported that the Abbeville coaches heard a fan near their sideline say he was going to get his gun upon which they passed this on to the officials, who called the game.
Veteran FHS coach Nick Saltaformaggio commented about the strange game and his team. "Yes sir, it was bizarre. I am happy to be 6 and 1. We still have a lot of work to do because our goals are becoming bigger and bigger. We responded well to a crazy week with a ton of outside noise. We did not let it affect us ultimately and now we can get back to some normalcy and put our efforts and energy on Pearl River."
Jacob Crain passed 14 times, completing 6 for 124 yards and a touchdown with one interception. He also rushed for two touchdowns and 32 yards on 4 carries. Dalton Freeman was his top target with three receptions good for 58 yards. DaMikies McClain caught two for 28 yards and Conner Magee caught one for 33 yards and a touchdown. Magee was the leading rusher with 157 yards on five carries. Sy Austin rushed 14 times for 86 yards and two touchdowns. Gabe Ezell was 6 for 6 on extra points.
(Note: Photos were unavailable for the Abbeville game. Our normal FHS photo coverage will resume next week.)
