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The Opening Kick
The Grizzlies look to continue their strong start to the spring season on Saturday afternoon with a matchup against the Mount St. Joseph Lions inside Franklin's Faught Stadium.
Last Time Out
Franklin hit the road for the first time last Saturday and put on a 60-minute clinic in their 50-3 win over Manchester. The Grizzly defense forced four turnovers and held the Spartans to less than 250 yards of total offense while racking up more than 400 yards on the ground on offense. It marked the 23rd win in the last 24 meetings between Franklin and Manchester.
About the Lions
The Mount is winless through one competition, dropping a 31-21 matchup with Rose-Hulman in their season opener a week ago. Freshman quarterback Josh Taylor racked up 129 yards through the air and 91 on the ground with two rushing scores to lead the Mount offense last week. Junior Austin Brock led the receiving corps, hauling in seven balls for 123 yards. Senior Jonathan Finn led the Lion defense with 14 stops a week ago.
Grizzlies and Lions All-Time
The long-time rivals met back on Sept. 28, 2019 at Faught Stadium in a 50-27 win for the Mount.
Jacob Earl rushed for two touchdowns,
Brayton Shannon returned a fumble 75 yards for a score and
Bryce Hale scooped up a blocked punt and ran 22 yards for a touchdown to cap the scoring for Franklin.
The win was the first for the Mount over Franklin since 2009 and the first time the Lions beat the Grizzlies in Franklin since 2006.
Ground and Pound
Franklin's offense punished the Manchester defense last Saturday, putting up more than 500 total yards for the second game in a row. Franklin's 402 rushing yards were the most in a game by the team since 2012, when they put up 380 on the ground in a win over Earlham.
Bringing Home the Hardware
Freshman
Derek Thompson was rewarded for his big Saturday, earning both HCAC Offensive Player of the Week and a spot on the D3football.com National Team of the Week. Thompson and fellow freshman
Dane Andrews have swept the league Offensive Player of the Week awards and the two, along with
Jarrett Gibson, have all earned national recognition from D3football.com.
Defense Lives Here
For the second straight week, Franklin's defense showed a knack for the big play, forcing four Manchester turnovers to give the defense 10 total for the year.
Aaron Black,
Nick Winders and
Cale McCarty all recorded interceptions and
John Svinarich fell on a Manchester fumble in the second half. Additionallty, Franklin's defense forced their first safety of the year while recording seven sacks and 11 tackles for loss.
A Day of Firsts
In Saturday's win, a group of Grizzlies recorded career firsts. On offense,
Spencer Wright threw his first career touchdown pass and
Orrin Schmidt hauled in his first career score on a throw from
Dane Andrews. Gibson returned a kick for a score for the first time and Cam Johnson raced in for his first career rushing TD.
Around the HCAC
Two other HCAC will be going on at the same time as Franklin and MSJ. The rest of the league schedule is as follows:
Manchester at Defiance, 1:30 PM
Bluffton at Hanover, 2 PM
Follow the Action Live
Saturday's game will be streamed live on GrizTV, presented by the Hubler Automotive Group. Jonathan Matthes will be on the call for all the play-by-play action at Faught Stadium. Live stats for the game will also be provided through our website, franklingrizzlies.com. In-game updates will be provided by following the Grizzlies on Twitter @FCGrizAthletics.
