In desperate need of a victory after an 0-3 start, Franklin College counted on Garrett Cora to set a winning tone.
The sophomore running back delivered, rushing for a career-high 226 yards and a touchdown to lift the Grizzlies to a 37-27 road win over Bluffton in their HCAC opener Saturday afternoon.
Franklin College (1-3, 1-0) struck first on a 14-yard quarterback keeper by Kai Ross on its opening drive, then extended the lead to 10-0 on a 24-yard field goal by Gabe Crutchfield later in the first quarter. After Bluffton (0-4, 0-1) cut the margin to three, the Grizzlies answered back with a 9-yard scoring pass from Ross to Ryus Moore.
The Beavers quickly scored another touchdown, but Franklin closed the half with 10 more points — a 20-yard Crutchfield field goal followed by an 84-yard Cora run that sent the visitors into the break with a 27-14 lead.
Still up by six going into the fourth quarter, the Grizzlies put the game away with a 21-yard field goal from Dylan Boswell and a 6-yard TD pass from Ross to Jarrett Gibson, who finished the day with nine catches for 125 yards.
Ross was 18 of 34 passing for 233 yards, accounting for nearly half of the Grizzlies’ 495 yards of total offense.
Defensively, Franklin surrendered 450 yards of Beaver offense but came up with some big plays, including interceptions by Kahari Jackson and Beau Hess and fumble recoveries by Michael Loper and Kody Wilkerson, who also had a team-best nine tackles.
The Grizzlies will try to keep their forward momentum going when they host Anderson for their homecoming game this week.
