LANGDON, N.H. – In a game filled with over 20 penalties, Franklin kept their perfect season intact after escaping with a 20-8 win over Fall Mountain on Friday.
After a scoreless, physical first quarter with the Wildcats, the penalties started to mount for Franklin with the first of 6 personal flags. FM couldn’t put points on the board, however, as a field goal attempt had the distance but missed just wide early.
A big sack by the Wildcats’ Alex Flynn forced the visitors to punt but the offense was in short supply from both sides. Midway into the second quarter, a fumbled Franklin snap was recovered by Flynn at the Franklin 11-yard line. Aaron Blair and Morgan Wilbur pushed the ball to the 2 with two hard runs and Connor Riendeau bulled his way to pay-dirt to give the Wildcats a 6-0 lead in the second quarter.
On the next possession, Franklin answered right back after 2 passes of over 20 yards to their big tight end and a 24-yard scamper that set up a first and goal. Franklin put six on the board but they also missed the extra point attempt to end the half 6-6. At the half, FM quarterback Jacob Shoemaker had completed 3 passes for 37 yards while Wilbur was the leading rusher for FM with 24 yards.
The second half turned ugly as frustration was evident on the visitor’s sideline. Franklin was whistled for multiple penalties and five more unsportsmanlike calls ranging from facemasking, taunting and even a bench penalty. With Franklin pinned deep in FM territory, a punt snap sailed out of the endzone resulting in a safety, which gave the lead back to FM, 8-6 and the ball back.
With all the chaos happening and penalty flags flying around the field, an interception and 70-yard return for a touchdown by Franklin’s Dawson LaFrance suddenly gave them the lead and all of the momentum, making up for the abundance of penalties.
“We had opportunities but we just needed one play to turn things around for us and we just couldn’t find it,” said FM head coach Orion Binney after the game. Except for that big interception and an 80-yard scoring drive to tie the game, Franklin had very little offense and over 200 yards in penalties on the night.
With FM digging into their bag of tricks, a shovel pass was picked off deep in FM territory which set up another Franklin score to give them a 20-8 lead. FM couldn’t generate any offense as Shoemaker was under pressure each time he dropped back for a pass. Franklin ran out the clock with 2 kneel-downs to end the game.
Fall Mountain falls to 0-3 and will host Farmington-Nute next Friday.
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