Plenty can be said about Franklin football's season opener on Saturday night against North Park — but what can't be said is that the game was boring.
The first night game at Faught Stadium in seven years saw the Grizzlies fall into an early 14-0 hole, storm back to lead by 17 points and then hold off a late Viking charge to pull out a 34-31 triumph.
"I'm really pleased how our offense clicked in the second quarter," Franklin coach
Mike Leonard said. "Marshall (Kmiecik) finding
Owen Wright several times — he made several big catches."
Indeed, Wright had an incredible evening. Back on the field after missing most of last season due to injury, the senior caught seven passes for 109 yards and three of Kmiecik's five aerial touchdowns. The last of those, with 5:05 remaining in the fourth quarter, made it 34-17 and proved to be the winning play.
North Park had the upper hand early, opening the game with a 10-play, 67-yard touchdown drive and following with a 17-play march that ate up nearly 11 minutes and bled over into the second quarter. The Grizzlies finally answered on their second possession of the game, with Kmiecik hitting
Isaiah Miller on the right side of the end zone for a 31-yard score with 6:15 left in the half.
Franklin then tied it up, capping a 92-yard drive with a 12-yard TD throw from Kmiecik to Wright with 44 seconds remaining. That left just enough time for the Vikings to regain the lead, ending the half with a 36-yard field goal.
The third quarter saw the Grizzlies pull in front when Kmiecik found Wright again for a 2-yard touchdown at the 3:14 mark of the third quarter, and a 10-yard scoring toss to
Dawson Slaughter on the final play of the period stretched it to 28-17.
After Wright's third score bumped the lead up to 17 points, the visitors brought an 11th-hour surge. North Park scored at the 3:18 mark to cut it to 10, then forced a punt to get the ball back with 2:30 on the clock. An Aidan Delisi TD rush from the four brought the Vikings back within a field goal at the 1:27 mark.
The Grizzlies then recovered an onside kick to close the door on North Park's comeback bid.
Leonard gave the game ball to the Griz offensive line, which is rounding into form after some unexpected personnel losses in the offseason and a game-week injury.
"It's a group that is a work in progress, but man, they did a great job tonight for the first game," Leonard said.
Kmiecik threw for 291 yards and rushed for 49 more.
Greyson Clark paced Franklin on the ground with 58 yards, including a 50-yard burst that set up the team's final touchdown.
A Grizzly defense that held up in several critical situations was led by
Haden Durnil's nine tackles.
Drew Servies contributed eight stops and
Brayden Baker seven.
Next up for Franklin will be a road trip to Butler this coming Saturday evening.
