FRANKLIN – The Franklin football team welcomed the Mount St. Joseph Lions to Faught Stadium on Saturday (Oct. 26) afternoon, with the Grizzlies back in front of their home fans for the first time in a month.
 
The Grizzlies (2-5, 1-2 HCAC) and Lions (6-2, 4-0 HCAC) traded haymakers all afternoon and produced a wild fourth quarter that featured 48 combined points. But the Lions would land the last punch, and a last-second heave from the Grizzlies would fall to the wayside as The Mount held on to win 46-43.
 
How it Happened
Franklin got the scoring started on their third drive of the day, with Garrett Cora capping a six-play drive with a 20-yard touchdown. The Lions scored two straight touchdowns to take their first lead of the day in the second quarter, but Cora would re-establish Franklin's lead with a 41-yard rushing score with 3:32 to go in the half. The Lions found the end zone late in the first half to take a 20-14 lead into the break.
 
The Lions stretched their lead to 27-14 with a third quarter touchdown and took that lead into the final quarter. What would follow in the fourth quarter would be one of the wildest 15 minutes of football Faught Stadium has ever seen.
 
Kai Ross opened the quarter with a rushing score and would later find Cora on a five-yard score. With Franklin facing a 40-28 deficit, Ross hooked up with Malachi Joy for a 40-yard score to get the deficit to one score. On the ensuing kick-off, the deep kick glanced off of the Lions' deep return man and into the end zone, where Haidyn Bulmer fell on the live ball to stun the visitors and make it 43-40 Grizzlies with 2:16 to play.
 
But as they did on their first two drives of the quarter, the Lions marched down the field in six plays for the go-ahead score with 42 seconds to play. Franklin would get the ball to the MSJ 40 yard line to set up a hail mary at the gun, but Ross' pass would be batted in the air and fall just outside the out-stretched arms of Owen Wright.
 
Inside the Box Score
-The two offenses combined for more than 1,100 yards of offense, with the Lions out-gaining Franklin 639-502.
-The Grizzlies controlled the game on the ground, racking up 246 yards on 41 attempts.
-Cora was dominant with the ball in his hands, finishing with 179 yards rushing and 59 yards receiving on five grabs with three total touchdowns.
-Cora moved closer to breaking two more long-time program records, as he sits two touchdowns shy of matching Kyle Linville's record of 53 total touchdowns. Cora will enter next week's game with 3,862 career rushing yards, 90 shy of Rick Etienne's all-time record of 3,952 yards on the ground.
-Ross finished 15-for-31 for 256 yards and two touchdowns through the air.
-Wright hauled in five balls for 134 yards, setting a career long with a 61-yard grab and notching back-to-back 100 yard games for the first time in his career.
-De'Marreia Stephens led the defense with 10 tackles.
-Clarence Cunningham finished with three tackles and picked off two MSJ passes.
 
Up Next
The Grizzlies are back at home next Saturday (Nov. 2), welcoming the Anderson Ravens to Faught Stadium. Kick-off is set for 1:30 p.m.