Franklin’s last Friday night on a football field didn’t go quite how the team had envisioned.
"I don’t know what happened," senior quarterback Reed Roberts said of a 41-7 loss to Greenwood on Oct. 9.
The Grizzly Cubs had hoped for an immediate shot at redemption against Mid-State Conference rival Decatur Central in what was the final game on the regular-season schedule. But that shot never came — after a player tested positive for COVID-19, Franklin ended up having to cancel.
With almost all of the teams in Class 5A getting last Friday off, the Grizzly Cubs come into tonight’s sectional semifinal at defending state champion New Palestine having not faced off against another team for three weeks. Whiteland finds itself in a similar situation — its Week 9 game against Greenwood was also wiped out, so it also goes into tonight’s 5A semifinal against Seymour off a 21-day hiatus.
[sc:text-divider text-divider-title="Story continues below gallery" ]
The hope is that the extra time will prove advantageous; at the very least, it has allowed the Warriors and Grizzly Cubs to go into the postseason healthier than usual.
But while the coaches are grateful for the chance to recover physically, they’re worried about the potential down side of that.
"Everybody gets run down as you get into Week 7, 8, 9, and you’re just not the same as you were Week 1," Franklin coach Chris Coll said. "(But) you’re going to balance that with how sharp we are and things like that after being off for a couple of weeks."
"Personally, I like just being in football mode," Whiteland coach Darrin Fisher added. "The game week routine, once you get in it … I think routine is best, so I would have much rather played, honestly. But I do think there are some benefits."
Rust is certainly a legitimate concern, but the two teams have tried to find ways to stay sharp.
For Whiteland in particular, there’s a definite worry that the extended break could slow the momentum that was built up during the team’s current five-game winning streak — one that takes the Warriors into the sectional as the No. 4 team in Class 5A and a slight favorite to win its first sectional championship since 2014. But senior offensive lineman Ethan Myers believes that the coaches have done a good job of preventing a slowdown by doing what was needed to "sharpen the axe," as Fisher termed it.
"Our motto the last two weeks has been ‘create your own momentum,’" Myers said. "Coach Fisher said himself, momentum’s kind of stopped, so at this point, we have to create momentum to be able to move forward. That means getting hyped even for the smallest practices, the smallest periods during practice. Trying to get hyped so that we’re ready to go and remembering what it felt like to go off that momentum."
Franklin, meanwhile, has been eager to bounce back after that surprisingly lopsided loss at Greenwood. The Decatur Central game was supposed to be the Grizzly Cubs’ chance to do that, and the wait since the cancellation of that contest has been agonizing.
"We thought it was going to be a great opportunity to prove our record wrong — even though we’re 3-5, we are still a good team," Roberts said. "The seniors probably took it the hardest, obviously, but we’ll bounce back and get it done on Friday."
New Palestine is hardly a pushover, obviously. The Dragons have won three state titles since 2014 under head coach Kyle Ralph, including the last two years, and they had won 30 games in a row before a Sept. 11 loss at Mt. Vernon this year. But the Grizzly Cubs are far more convenient than they were going into last year’s sectional title, which ended with New Pal claiming a 49-14 victory.
The opponent doesn’t feel quite as invincible this time around.
"I think we have a much better opportunity to move on forward past the first round," Roberts said. "It’s all going to come down to a good team versus another good team and just us executing. They’re still a pretty good team, but we have a way better opportunity than we did last year, and we’re pretty excited about it."
The Grizzly Cubs aren’t the only team with New Pal on the brain; Whiteland has been itching for another shot at the Dragons since losing last year’s sectional opener. But the Warriors know they can’t put the cart before the horse — the first order of business is handling the Owls tonight.
Handle that, and then the red-letter game will be theirs.
"We have to get this game to get the game we’ve been waiting 365 days for," Myers said.
For both Franklin and Whiteland, the last 21 days have probably felt more like 365. Whether the larger-than-desired interval between the regular season and playoffs has been a benefit or a burden won’t really be known until at least tonight, but either way, both squads are glad the wait is finally over.
"We’re just looking forward to getting back on the field, to be honest with you," Coll said.
[sc:pullout-title pullout-title="Tonight’s sectional semifinals" ][sc:pullout-text-begin]
<strong>Class 6A</strong>
Center Grove at Columbus North, 7 p.m.
<strong>Class 5A</strong>
Franklin at New Palestine, 7 p.m.
Seymour at Whiteland, 7 p.m.
<strong>Class 4A</strong>
Greenwood at Martinsville, 7 p.m.
Roncalli at Beech Grove, 7 p.m.
<em>Follow @rolearyDJ on Twitter for the latest updates on all of the local games throughout the evening.</em>
[sc:pullout-text-end]
