For the first quarter of Saturday afternoon's football clash at Faught Stadium, Franklin was able to use some big plays on defense and special teams to stay with visiting Calvin.
As the day wore on, however, the Knights proved to be too much, pulling away for a 41-7 victory over the Grizzlies.
Franklin (1-2) punted on its opening possession but immediately got the ball back on the Knights' first play from scrimmage when
Haidyn Bulmer forced a fumble that was recovered by
Haden Durnil at the Calvin 40-yard line. Five plays later, quarterback
Josh Bruner — filling in for injured starter
Marshall Kmiecik — completed a fourth-down pass to
Dawson Slaughter in the left corner of the end zone to give the Grizzlies an early 7-0 lead.
Calvin responded with a drive into the red zone, but the Griz defense forced a second straight turnover when a jump ball into the end zone was intercepted by
Jace Dorsey. The Knights' second drive of the game also advanced inside the 20, but Franklin forced a field goal attempt that was blocked by Bulmer early in the second quarter.Â
The Griz offense was unable to get much else going, however, and Calvin eventually found its way into the end zone. The visitors scored twice in the final 5:28 of the half to take a 14-7 edge into the locker room.
Two more touchdown drives in each of the next two quarters helped the Knights stretch out to a comfortable lead, and both teams were able to empty their benches in the fourth period.
Bruner completed 11 passes for 69 yards to lead the Grizzlies, who totaled just 106 yards of offense on the day.
Brayden Baker had 11 tackles for the defense, followed by
Drew Servies with nine and Bulmer and Durnil with eight apiece.
Franklin has a bye week before traveling to Rose-Hulman for its HCAC opener on Oct. 3.
