A single turnover on the opening drive doesn’t always turn out to be consequential, but an early giveaway cost Franklin College a big chance to dictate the game on its terms on Saturday.
Franklin (3-3) drove to the Hanover College 8-yard line on the opening series, but fumbled the ball away in the end zone. The unbeaten Panthers took over and scored the first time they had the ball, then held off the Grizzlies at opportune times to cruise to a 56-21 victory at Red Faught Stadium.
“Anytime that you leave points off the board and fumble on your first drive into the end zone is a momentum thing,” Franklin coach Alan Hensell said. “I did feel that we bounced back decently off that. We moved the ball well in the first half and we were in pretty good shape going into halftime.
“I would have felt better if it was 21-21.”
Franklin gave up another score near the start of the second quarter and found themselves in a 14-0 hole, but the Grizzlies then put together a decent drive culminating in Cameron Johnson’s 4-yard run.
The Panthers put up one more score with 3:28 left in the first half, but again Franklin was able to come back with quarterback Dane Andrews hitting Orrin Schmidt for a 24-yard score.
At that point, even with the potential lost touchdown, Franklin was in business and was set to give the visitors a battle.
Unfortunately for Hensell and crew, it didn’t turn out that way.
Hanover started airing the ball out more in the second half, while keeping the Grizzlies defense on alert by mixing it up with the run.
That combination helped the Panthers to eight straight third-down conversions also allowing for control of the ball and more crucially the clock.
Hanover won that in rout, hogging the ball for more than 41 minutes to the Grizzlies’ 18.
The third and fourth-down play of the Panthers really put the hurt on Franklin College. Hanover (4-0) was 70% (13 of 18) on third downs but an even better 3 for 3 on fourth down — with one of those going for a 23-yard touchdown pass early in the fourth quarter.
“When they are converting (third downs) at a high rate it’s tough to think you’re going to stop them at all,” Hensell said. “They are going to continue to move down the field and score touchdowns, and that’s what they did.”
Hanover scored four touchdowns in the third quarter to put the game away and added one more in the fourth.
Panther quarterback Matthew Wiemer was superb in the second half, going 12 for 16 and tossing three touchdown passes. Wiemer was 21 of 29 overall for 281 yards and he used his feet too, scampering to a 9-yard score in the first quarter.
Franklin did show fight in the second half, as Johnson scored from 9 yards out. The Grizzlies were driving toward another score in the final minute, but suffered the same ignominy as the first drive by fumbling the ball away.
Offensively, Andrews threw for 267 yards and a touchdown. Derek Thompson led the Grizzlies in rushing with 70 yards.
“I think we showed flashes at times of moving the ball and doing what we needed to do,” Hensell said. “It wasn’t enough, but it was a tremendous learning experience for our team and for us to get out there and compete is very valuable.”
Franklin finishes its season this Saturday with a 2:30 p.m. home game against Defiance.
