The Franklinton Demons football team fought and won a huge victory over the Covington Lions on the road, 23-21. With the win the Demons move their record to 1-1 on the season and will host the 1-1 Fontainebleau Bulldogs this Friday.
The Demons opened the scoring on their first possession of the game as Michael Brock caught a 28 yard touchdown pass from Jacob Crain. Santiago Morales’ extra point kick put them up 7-0 with 6:30 left in the first.
After trading punts the Lions tied the game on a two yard run with 2:02 left in the first. The Lions then took the lead on a one yard run with 4:07 left in the first half to go up 14-7.
The Demons scored again when Micah Hart scored on a five yard run but the snap on the extra point kick was low and Conner Magee attempted to run it in but was stopped short for a 14-13 score.
With just :36 left before halt the Lions attempted to throw the ball but the Demons Avery Brumfield picked it off to set the Demons up with excellent field position. A 23 yard Morales field goal gave the Demons a 16-14 halftime lead.
The Demons defense had a big stand on fourth down to open the second half as the Lions drove to the Demons 23 but were held on downs.
On the Lions next possession they were again forced to punt and a high snap gave the Demons a short field at the Lions 16. The Demons scored to take a big advantage when Crain found Conner Magee in the endzone for a 20 yard strike to put the Demons up 23-14 with 3:50 left in the third.
The Lions answered on their next drive as they went seventy yards on their drive to score on a five yard run with 11:56 left in the game to make the score 23-21.
The Demons were forced to punt on the ensuing drive and the Lions were held on downs at their own 43 to give the Demons possession. The Demons drove to the Lions 25 but were also held on downs. The Lions moved to the Demons 48 yard line before once again being held on downs. The Demons couldn’t completely run out the clock so they punted back to the Lions with :36 left in the game. The Lions took over at their own 23 and completed a long pass to the Demons 25. With just :10 on the clock the Lions quarterback was sacked on a blitz by Tim Partman whereupon he fumbled the ball, a Lion lineman picked it up and the clock ran out as he was tackled.
Coach Saltaformaggio said the Demons overcame a lot for the victory. “Our defensive kids worked hard all week, we had a very rough week, we had a kid walk out, one of our offensive linemen had ACL surgery, we had a death in our family and these kids were unbelievably resilient. And that was what our prayer service was about today was resiliency. I tell our kids the process is going to work. Believe in the process and it's going to work. We’re going to have fun tonight, throw it away tomorrow and get ready for Fontainebleau.”
Demons quarterback Jacob Crain was 11 of 18 for 113 yards and a touchdown passing with 3 carries for 17 yards rushing. Michael Brock caught five passes for 49yards and a touchdown, Conner Magee caught four for 51 yards and a touchdown, Micah Hart caught one for 8 yards and Christian Young had one for 5 yards. Hart rushed 19 times for 52 yards and a touchdown, Rayshone Manuel had 12 carries for 42 yards and Conner Magee had one rush for 4 yards.
