The Franklin Reporter & Advocate Eight Villages, One Community
The Franklin Middle School football Warriors ended their undefeated season with a bang on Nov. 6, taking the BCC conference Middle School Championship with a dominant 42-14 win over Plainfield.
The win, before a boisterous crowd at Franklin High School, capped the Warriors’ storybook season, one the team’s head coach later called his best.
A 30-plus yard opening kickoff return, followed by a steady march to the goal line by Plainfield, resulted in a quick, 6-0 lead for the Cardinals. A two-point conversion was unsuccessful.
But that lead didn’t last long.
TyJhir Williams grabbed Plainfield’s kickoff on the ground at the 23 yard line, cut to his left and sprinted down the sideline to tie the game for the Warriors, who also did not score on an attempted two-point conversion.
Plainfield could not field the Warriors’ kickoff, which was downed at the Cardinal’s 25 yard line by Romeo Carmen King.
Franklin brought the ball down to the 10 yard line when Xavier Henderson scurried around the outside into the endzone to give the Warriors a 12-6 lead with 1:43 left in the first quarter.
A tipped Cardinals’ pass by Williams and returned to the Cardinals’ one yard line led to the Warriors’ third score with about a minute a half left in the first half.
After two opposing penalties brought it back to short yardage, Henderson ran the ball in, making the score 18-6. A successful two-point conversion gave the Warriors’ a 20-6 lead, which they took with them into the locker room at the half.
The Warriors’ scored on their first possession of the second half on a 32-yard pass reception by Michael Schiemeyer. A successful two-point conversion gave the Warriors a 28-6 lead with about 6:33 left in the third quarter.
Late in the third quarter, with Franklin on its own 35 yard line, Henderson took a hand-off, took advantage of a block by Nyiaar Stallings, and sprinted down the left sideline into the endzone, giving the Warriors a 36-6 lead.
With just over two minutes left in the third quarter, a tipped Cardinals’ pass was caught by Williams at the Warriors’ 45 yard line. Williams turned on the jets and gave Franklin a 42-6 lead.
The Cardinals managed a score in the fourth quarter, leaving the field with teh score 42-12.
Warriors’ coach Blair Wilson said after the game that the undefeated season was the “fruit” of the hard work the team had put in.
“I think the boys did tremendous,” he said. “This is dedication, working hard in the off-season, coming up into the season, hard work and dedication.”
“Like I told the kids, this was not a mistake,” Wilson said. “We worked hard and this is the fruits of our labor.”
“This is a great group of kids, they really dedicated themselves,” Wilson said. “The kids in the Franklin community know my program and know what we want so we can send the kids up to the varsity level. We’re working hand-in-hand with the high school. This is the foundation, we look at varsity as our roof. Our middle school and youth programs are our foundation, and no house can stand without the foundation.”
Wilson said he thought the game was so one-sided because the Cardinals underestimated his team based on past scores.
“We went through the season just winning, and when we were winning big, we put our back-up players in because we’re building our program,” he said. “So they looked at our scores and saw that we were kind of competitive, but we knew that we were a better team than them just watching them on film.”
At a gathering mid-field, where the team was presented with its trophy, Wilson thanked the players’ parents and staff for their support during the season.
“We just want to thank the whole community for coming out and supporting us throughout the year,” he said.
Here are some scenes from the game:
