FRANKLIN, Ind. – The Franklin College football team put the finishing touches on the 2021 spring season on Saturday (Apr. 17) afternoon with a matchup against the Defiance Yellow Jackets at Faught Stadium in Franklin.

The Grizzlies (4-3, 4-3 HCAC) came up with big plays on offense and stifled the Yellow Jackets' (2-5, 2-5 HCAC) run game all afternoon to take a 31-18 victory.

How it Happened
Defiance took the first lead of the day, capitalizing on a Franklin turnover less than five minutes into the game. The Grizzlies would go scoreless in the opening quarter, but would cash in two plays into the second quarter on a 20-yard pass from Spencer Wright to Ryan Poole to take a 7-6 lead.

After forcing a Yellow Jacket three-and-out, Poole made it 14-6 Grizzlies with eight minutes to go in the first half, hauling in a five-yard pass from Dane Andrews for his first career multi-score game. The Yellow Jackets found the end zone on the final play of the half, cutting the Grizzly lead to 14-12 after 30 minutes of play.

Special teams would play a major role in Franklin extending their lead, as Nick Winders blocked his first career punt midway through the third quarter that gave the Grizzlies a short field to work with. Wright made the Yellow Jackets pay two plays later, finding Jarrett Gibson in the corner of the end zone from 13 yards out to make it 21-12.

Defiance cut into the lead early in the fourth quarter, but Franklin grabbed the momentum back two plays after Defiance's final touchdown of the day when Wright found a streaking Poole over the middle and the junior wideout did the rest, scoring from 57 yards out to extend Franklin's lead.

Carter Brown capped the scoring with a field goal and Franklin's defense took care of the rest, holding their opponent scoreless the rest of the way.

Inside the Box Score
-Poole had an efficient day catching the ball, recording a team-high 82 receiving yards and a career-best three touchdowns. He becomes the first Grizzly wideout to catch three TDs in a game since Brad Bonomini back in 2018.
-Wright went 7-for-12 for 129 yards and three touchdown passes, splitting time with Andrews who recorded 76 passing yards on five completions.
-Cam Johnson got his first career start at tailback and racked up 92 yards on 26 carries.
-Austin Petrillo has a career-high 31 receiving yards.
-Kody Wilkerson anchored the Franklin defense with a game-high 12 tackles. Dante Darden and Jireh Ojata both had career-highs with 10 tackles.
-Franklin's defensive line was disruptive all afternoon long, finishing with seven sacks and 15 tackles for loss that totaled 67 negative yards.
-The Yellow Jackets ran the ball 48 times for a miniscule 80 yards.