For the third time in as many games, Franklin football struck the first blow. On Saturday afternoon, the Grizzlies actually landed the first two.

But a Trine surge that started just before halftime put coach Mike Leonard's squad in a hole, and it was unable to recover in a 35-27 road loss.

"We're disappointed that we lost the game," Leonard said. "We felt like we were in control. ... But I'm encouraged that our guys played with grit and determination and fought until the end. We walked off the field with our head held high."

The two sides battled through a scoreless first quarter before the Grizzlies (1-2) got on the board with a 20-yard touchdown pass from Marshall Kmiecik to Jace Mohr midway through the second. A 1-yard keeper by Kmiecik upped the Franklin lead to 14-0 with just 1:01 remaining in the half.

That was plenty of time for the Thunder, who went 68 yards in three plays and scored on a 46-yard Jermaine Williams TD reception with 41 seconds on the clock.

Trine then put together a 10-play touchdown drive coming out of the break, capping it off with a 6-yard run by Mickey Daring to tie the game. Two more long scoring passes by RJ West, a 70-yarder to Rashawn Street and an 87-yarder to Williams, gave the Thunder a 28-14 edge with 12:44 to go in the game.

Franklin battled back, getting to within 28-20 on a 7-yard toss from Kmiecik to Jordan Fonda with 8:27 left, but Trine answered with another Ward-to-Williams TD pass, this one covering 7 yards. Fonda pulled in an 11-yard Kmiecik pass with 2:37 to go, but the Grizzlies couldn't get the ball back for a potential game-tying drive.

Kmiecik finished the day 27 of 50 passing for 262 yards and the three touchdowns against one interception. Fonda was his top target with seven grabs for 79 yards, while Trevor Winkles paced the ground attack with 54 yards rushing.

Defensively, Drew Servies had 10 tackles and Haden Durnil nine, while Carter Edney had seven stops, two of those for loss, as well as a sack, two forced fumbles and a recovery. Servies also recovered a fumble.

The Grizzlies have a week off before traveling to Muskingum for their final nonconference game on Oct. 4.

"We will keep battling," Leonard said.