The Franklinton Demons survived an upset attempt by the Pearl River Rebels last Friday on the road, 49-40.
With the hard fought win, the Demons move their overall record to 7-1 and their district record to 2-0. This sets up an unofficial district championship game at home Friday night against the Loranger Wolves who are also 2-0 in district. The winner will be the district champs due to the fact that the other three district teams all have two district losses.
Pearl River opened the game returning the kickoff for a touchdown then scored on their first possession to go up 12-0. The Demons then scored on an 85 yard pass from Jacob Crain to Sy Austin to cut the lead to 12-7. After the Demons defense held the Rebels the offense scored gain to take a 14-12 lead on DaMikies McClain's 31 yard reception with 2:49 left in the first.
The Demons took a 28-12 lead on Crain's four yard run and Austin's six yard run. The Rebels scored on a quarterback run to cut the lead to 28-20 and that would be the halftime score.
In the second half the Demons scored on a two play drive as McClain caught a 29 yard pass for a touchdown with 11:14 on the clock and a 35-20 score. The Rebels cut into the lead late in the third for a 35-26 score as they could not score on the two point conversion. The Demons closed out the scoring in the third when Austin went in from 7 yards out with :08 left for a 42-26 score.
Pearl River then scored on back to back possessions to cut the lead to 42-40 as they hit the extra point kick with 6:13 left in the game. The Demons then used a lot of time as they drove to the one yard line, where Crain went in from a yard out with just :27 left in the game. The extra point put the Demons up 49-40. The Rebels moved to midfield but time expired and the Demons won the game.
Coach Nick Saltaformaggio was glad to get the win. He said, "A win is a win. We are obviously extremely explosive offensively, but to get to the Dome we have to find a defensive stop or two. We are 7 and 1 and we are excited to have Franklinton back on the 'front' page in prep football again. We still have a lot to play for and a lot to accomplish."
Junior quarterback Jacob Crain passed for 257 yards and two touchdowns with one interception on 9 completions of 16 attempts. He also rushed for 10 yards and 2 touchdowns. DaMikies McClain was the leading receiver with 110 yards and two touchdowns on 4 receptions, Sy Austin had 94 yards on 2 receptions, Conner Magee had 37 yards on 2 receptions and Christian Young had 1 catch for 16 yards. Sy Austin had 170 yards rushing on 24 carries with two touchdowns and Conner Magee had 61 yards on 7 carries. Gabe Ezell was 7 of 7 on extra point attempts.
