Franklin football covered several miles of ground traveling to face Mount St. Joseph on Saturday afternoon. Covering Lions receiver Eli Aston proved a more arduous task.

Aston caught six passes from Jaxon Schreiber for 174 yards and four touchdowns, providing MSJ plenty of cushion in a 52-21 win over the Grizzlies.

Tanner Keller pulled in the first of Schreiber's seven TD passes midway through the first quarter, and Aston hauled in an 11-yard touchdown just 51 seconds into the second quarter to put the Lions up 14-0. The Grizzlies got on the board less than five minutes later when Trevor Winkles scored on a 3-yard run, but MSJ opened the third period with three consecutive touchdowns to stretch the lead to 35-7.

Brayden Wilkins' 95-yard kickoff return got Franklin (3-4, 1-2 HCAC) back within three scores, but Mount St. Joseph countered with two more TDs and a field goal to make it 52-14. Devlin McGee ran it in from a yard out with 13 seconds left to close the scoring for the visitors.

The Griz offense struggled throughout, with quarterback Marshall Kmiecik getting intercepted three times and the team getting outgained by the Lions, 486-286.

Haden Durnil had 11 tackles and Shamari Gittings 10 to lead the Franklin defense, while Michael Loehmer and Carter Edney both intercepted passes.

Franklin will be on the road again next Saturday (Nov. 1), facing Anderson at Lapel High School.