ON THE ROAD AGAIN
Franklin football plays its second consecutive road game on Saturday when it takes on in-state rival Anderson at Lapel High School (1:30 p.m.). The Grizzlies come in with a 19-game series win streak that began in 2006; they won last season's clash at Faught Stadium, 35-14.

LAST TIME OUT
The Grizzlies were unable to contain the Mount St. Joseph air attack in a 52-21 road loss. MSJ quarterback Jaxon Schreiber threw for 377 yards and seven touchdowns, with all-conference wideout Eli Aston accounting for four of those scores and 174 yards on his six catches. Franklin was outgained by a 486-286 margin, with the 286 yards of offense representing a season low.

MAKING A STATEMENT
Of the Grizzlies' 19 straight wins against the Ravens, 17 of them have been by a double-digit margin. The two exceptions are fairly recent, though; Franklin pulled out a 36-28 road win in 2023 and earned a 55-48 home victory in the spring of 2021.

TAKE IT TO THE HOUSE
Not included in the above yardage figure was a 95-yard kickoff return by Brayden Wilkins. The sophomore running back answered a fourth-quarter Lion touchdown with one of his own, breaking loose with 11:37 left in the game for his first career TD return.

A QUICK GAME OF 2K
Franklin quarterback Marshall Kmiecik comes into the Anderson game with 1,981 yards passing on the season. The sophomore is 21 yards away from posting the Grizzlies' highest season total since Braden Smith threw for 3,226 yards in 2018.

PLAYING THE PERCENTAGES
Coach Mike Leonard is currently 132-59 in his career at Franklin. His .691 winning percentage remains the highest in school history; he is the only Griz coach to coach more than two seasons and have a percentage higher than .525.

AROUND THE HCAC
The other two conference clashes on Saturday have first-place Hanover traveling to Bluffton and Rose-Hulman visiting Manchester. Mount St. Joseph takes its turn stepping outside of the HCAC, staying in state with a game at Ohio Northern.