Punching up against a Division I opponent leaves little to no room for error.
On Saturday evening, mistakes eliminated any chance that Franklin football had of stealing a win against FCS foe Butler.
The Grizzlies turned the ball over five times, throwing two interceptions and losing three fumbles, and paid the price in a 52-0 defeat.
Franklin (1-1) got into Butler turnover on the game's opening possession before turning the ball over on downs. After allowing a touchdown on the Bulldogs' first drive, the Grizzlies continued to move the ball — but were unable to hang onto it. Twice in the first 15:07 of action, they completed passes for double-digit gains but fumbled the ball away.Â
The first of those giveaways didn't prove damaging, but the Bulldogs scored a TD off the second to take a 14-0 lead early in the second quarter. An interception and a turnover on downs set up two more Butler scoring drives that made it a 24-0 game going into halftime.
Another double-digit gain turned into a giveaway for the Grizzlies in the third quarter, and the Bulldogs took advantage, stretching their lead to 38-0 by the end of the period.
Despite the hiccups, Griz coach
Mike Leonard came away with plenty of positives.
"Had a blast coaching our team," he said. "Proud of the way we came out swinging. They were much more physical than us across the board, but our guys battled all night. ... I think we found out a lot about ourselves."
Quarterback
Marshall Kmiecik led the way for Franklin with 150 yards passing and 44 more on the ground.
Brayden Wilkins caught five passes for 54 yards.
Defensively,
Drew Servies made 14 tackles for the Grizzlies, including nine solo stops. Punter
Trent Dittmer averaged 43.7 yards on his three kicks, sticking one inside the 20-yard line.
The Grizzlies return to Division III competition — and Faught Stadium — this coming Saturday afternoon when they host Calvin.
