Franklin College football shuts out Anderson

Known primarily for its offense in recent years, Franklin College has been in its share of high-scoring games on the gridiron.

On Saturday afternoon at Anderson, it was the Grizzlies’ defense that stole the show in a 17-0 shutout victory over the winless Ravens.

Franklin College (4-3, 2-2 HCAC) held Anderson to minus-13 yards rushing and contained the Ravens’ passing game, yielding 224 yards on 52 attempts. The home team converted just four of 19 third downs.

Meanwhile, freshman quarterback Kai Ross came off the bench and broke a scoreless tie with his first career touchdown pass, a 63-yarder to Garrett Cora. Derek Baldin added a 34-yard field goal with three minutes left in the half to make it a 10-0 game.

Ross added another touchdown in the third quarter, this time scoring on a 37-yard run.

The Grizzlies got a team-high 10 tackles from Aaron Black, while Beau Hess and Gervasio Mitchell had seven apiece. Evan Stambaugh forced a fumble and Jireh Ojata added 1.5 quarterback sacks to extend his conference-leading total to 8.5.

Offensively, Cora finished with 100 yards rushing and 73 receiving for Franklin College, which travels to Defiance this weekend.