ANDERSON, Ind. – The Franklin football team stayed perfect in Heartland Collegiate Athletic Conference (HCAC) play on Saturday, besting league rival Anderson 36-28 in the Grizzlies' first conference road contest.
 
Junior halfback Garrett Cora rushed for four touchdowns and senior wideout Dylan McKinney hauled in eight passes for 173 yards as Franklin (2-3, 2-0 HCAC) held off the Ravens (0-5, 0-2 HCAC) to remain tied for the top spot in the league.
 
How it Happened
Disaster struck early with the Ravens forcing a turnover three plays in and turning that into the game's first touchdown. The Grizzlies responded on their second drive with a 55-yard strike from Kai Ross to McKinney set the Griz up at the one and Cora punched it in to tie the game at 7-7 with 8:45 to go in the first quarter.
 
Franklin took the lead on their next possession with Ross hitting Owen Wright from 14 yards out and after forcing another Anderson punt, the Griz stretched the lead to 21-7 with Cora's first rushing score of the day going for 26 yards with 12:02 to go in the first half. But Anderson got back within a score at the break with a field goal and a touchdown and forced three Griz turnovers to keep it at 21-16 at the break.
 
Anderson re-took the lead with a touchdown on their second possession of the second half but Franklin had an answer in the form of a 10-yard touchdown run from Cora and two-point conversion from Ross to Malachi Joy to make it 29-22. Cora punched in his third score of the day on the first play of the fourth quarter to restore a two-touchdown lead. Anderson got the lead back to a score with six minutes to go but Franklin held the ball the rest of the way and secured the win.
 
Inside the Box Score
-Ross went 15-for-20 through the air for 249 yards and the one score to Wright.
-Cora racked up 122 yards on 22 carries and Kam Jennings finished with 61 yards on 14 carries. Franklin finished the game with 202 yards on the ground.
-McKinney's 173 yards are a new career-high for a game.
-Spencer Wright hauled in four passes for 42 yards and Wright had 25 yards on two grabs.
-Jireh Ojata and Beau Hess tied for the team lead with nine tackles each. Ojata had 3.0 tackles for loss, blocked two extra points and had two quarterback hurries.
-Freshmen safeties De'Marreia Stephens and Haidyn Bulmer set new career-highs with eight tackles each.
 
Up Next
Franklin is back on the road next Saturday (Oct. 14), traveling to Ohio for a meeting with the Defiance Yellow Jackets. Kick-off is set for 1:30 p.m.