FRANKLIN – The Franklin football team welcomed the Rose-Hulman Engineers to Faught Stadium on Saturday (Oct. 21) afternoon for a meeting of two team unbeaten in Heartland Collegiate Athletic Conference (HCAC) play.
 
The opening 30 minutes of play produced a shootout but the game was decided in the second half, where the Engineers (5-2, 4-0 HCAC) controlled the play and handed Franklin (3-4, 3-1 HCAC) a 50-35 loss.
 
How it Happened
The Griz got the ball first and marched right down the field for the opening score, finishing off the drive with Dylan McKinney grabbing a four-yard pass from Kai Ross for the early 7-0 lead. Two straight Engineer touchdowns followed but Garrett Cora would put the Grizzlies back in front, taking a fourth down carry 20 yards to the house to give the hosts a 14-13 lead at the end of the first quarter.
 
Kam Jennings capped Franklin's first drive of the second with a five-yard touchdown and Spencer Wright came down with a 24-yard pass from Ross to make it 28-27 Grizzlies with five minutes to go in the opening half. But momentum shifted before the break as the Engineers scored 10 points before the break and a Rose field goal to open the second half made it a two-score game at 40-28.
 
The rest of the game saw the Engineers control the clock and their defense keep Franklin out of the end zone until Ross snuck the ball in from two yards out with just seconds left in the game.
 
Inside the Box Score
-Ross went 21-for-33 for 23-for-35 through the air for 250 yards and a pair of scores while gaining 48 yards on the ground.
-Cora went past the 1,000-yard milestone for the first time in his career with 134 yards on 24 carries.
-Malachi Joy led the receiving corps with seven grabs for 44 yards. Owen Wright had a team-high 46 yards on three grabs.
-Freshman safety Haidyn Bulmer led the defense with a career-high 12 tackles.
-Jason Pierre Louis set a career-high with nine stops, including a team-high eight solo stops.
 
Up Next
The Grizzlies are on the road next Saturday (Oct. 28), heading to Cincinnati, Ohio to take on the Mount St. Joseph Lions. Kick-off is set for 1:30 p.m.