Franklin football coach Chris Coll cautions that there hasn’t always been diligent record-keeping throughout the program’s history, so the marks that seniors Harris Eason and Brodie Rinehold set in last week’s win against Martinsville may or may not have asterisks attached.
Regardless, there’s no denying the mark that the twosome has been making on the field this season.
Eason has been a pass-rushing terror for the Grizzly Cubs, and when quarterbacks have been able to elude his grasp and get throws away, Rinehold has been there waiting to take advantage.
Nobody knows that better than the Artesians, who got victimized by Franklin’s big-play defense early and often in a 48-21 blowout last Friday. Eason had three quarterback sacks in the victory, while Rinehold intercepted a pair of first-quarter passes and returned one of those for a touchdown.
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The cornerback now has four picks on the season, including two that got brought back for scores; he also took one to the end zone against Shelbyville. His eight career INTs are, to the best of anyone’s knowledge, the new all-time school record.
Rinehold, who also had three interceptions last season and one as a sophomore, credits the approach of the coaching staff for putting him in position to make more plays this fall.
"In practice, we normally focus on a ‘catch’ technique, which brings me a lot closer to the player I’m guarding," he explained. "It makes it a lot easier to break on the ball, and then if I’m in good position I can just break on it a lot easier."
It certainly helps matters that the Grizzly Cubs’ front seven puts a good amount of heat on opposing quarterbacks. Trenton O’Leary and Jacob Wagner each have a pair of sacks this fall, while Eason is tied for the county lead with four.
Three of those came against Martinsville, a single-game school record.
The 5-foot-11, 207-pounder may not be the biggest guy on the line, but he’s as disruptive as they come — and he loves making those momentum-swinging plays in the backfield.
"You can tell by my celebrations," Eason said with a smile. "I dig that stuff. It can change the whole tide of the game. They might be down on one play, but the next play you make a big sack or a big interception or something, you can definitely feel the defense change, and they come back to hit hard the next play."
Eason is able to make up for his relative lack of size in part by leveraging some of the skills that made him a state qualifier in wrestling last winter. Staying low to the ground enables him to maintain an edge against bigger (but usually slower) offensive linemen.
For Franklin coach Chris Coll, though, the production he gets from Eason and Rinehold stems primarily from their non-stop motors.Â
"They just play really hard at a very consistent level," Coll said. "They compete every play. They’re not perfect, but you just know they’re going to give you everything they’ve got every play. They don’t take a play off."
Eason, too, attributes the output to effort — and he notes that it starts during the week.
"We just do what we work on during practice constantly," he said, "and it ends up working out whenever you execute the right way."
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Lawrence Central at Center Grove, 7 p.m.
Franklin at Mooresville, 7 p.m.
Greenwood at Perry Meridian, 7 p.m.
Whiteland at Martinsville, 7 p.m.
Indian Creek at Edgewood, 7 p.m.
Milan at Edinburgh, 7 p.m.
Roncalli at West Lafayette Harrison, 7 p.m.
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