Franklin’s Alex Leugers tries to get away from a Mooresville defender during Friday’s game.
Rob Baker | For the Daily Journal
If there’s one thing you can count on in the Mid-State Conference this fall, it’s that you can’t count on anything at all.
Alex Leugers rushed for 216 yards and a touchdown, and Blake Smythe’s punt block and touchdown keyed a big third quarter that helped the Grizzly Cubs survive a furious Pioneer comeback and hang on for a 29-26 triumph.
The victory, coupled with Plainfield’s loss to Decatur Central, put Franklin (4-2, 3-1) in a tie with the Quakers atop the league standings. The Grizzly Cubs play at Plainfield next week.
“We played hard,” Franklin coach Chris Coll said. “We can do some things better, we make some better decisions on the field, but we played hard. We talk about poise and perseverance, and I think that was in full effect tonight. I’m just proud of them hanging in there and finding a way to finish, because that was some crazy stuff.”
Down by 16 as the fourth quarter began, Mooresville got back within 29-19 on a 2-yard TD pass from Hogan Denny to Levi Dorn, and the Pioneers appeared to recover the onside kick that followed, but the kick didn’t travel the necessary 10 yards and Franklin took over just across midfield. The Grizzly Cubs (4-2, 3-1) marched down to the 3-yard line and were poised to put the game away, but a throw to the end zone was intercepted by Mooresville’s Kaden Bruhn and returned 101 yards for a score.
Suddenly, with 5:24 left in the game, the Pioneers were back within a field goal — and after Franklin went three and out on its next possession, they had the ball back with 2:21 remaining and 80 yards to cover. A completed pass and a 15-yard scramble by Denny moved the ball to the 50, but a fourth-down pass fell incomplete and the Grizzly Cubs were able to move into victory formation with 1:04 left.
Denny quarterbacked the Pioneers to a game-opening touchdown, completing four of six passes and calling his own number on the two key plays — an 8-yard run to the Franklin 17 on fourth and 3 and then a 5-yard keeper on first and goal that put the visitors up 7-0 with 7:52 left in the first period.
The Grizzly Cubs came back and drove inside the Mooresville 10-yard line, but their progress stalled with a pair of negative-yardage runs and they were forced to settle for a 29-yard field goal from J.D. Sever at the 1:38 mark.
Franklin picked off a Denny pass late in the quarter but fumbled it back to the Pioneers on the return. The dueling turnovers did push Mooresville out of Grizzly Cub territory, however, and the Franklin defense was able to force a punt. That kick pinned the Cubs at their own 3-yard line, but they were able to move the ball across midfield before having to punt it away themselves.
Mooresville (2-4, 1-3) then drove the ball into the Franklin red zone, but the defense held up and the ensuing field goal attempt was no good. The Grizzly Cubs had 2:16 of first-half clock to work with, and they made use of it. Clay Pinnick completed back-to-back passes — a 16-yarder to Luke Bechert and then a 30-yard catch and run by Quentin Richards — to move the ball to the 12-yard line, and Leugers got the handoff on the next three snaps, scoring from a yard out on the last of those to give the home team a 10-7 edge with 24.8 seconds left before intermission.
The teams traded punts to start the third quarter before Franklin padded its lead with a six-play, 90-yard scoring drive. Pinnick began the possession with a 25-yard screen to Bechert and ended it by going over the top to Cooper Taylor, who made the grab in traffic for a 32-yard touchdown with 5:39 left in the period.
The Pioneers got a long kickoff return to set up at their 43, but an intentional grounding penalty on third and long pushed the ball all the way back to the 20. Denny’s punt was then blocked by Smythe, who then scooped up the ball just inside the 10 and bulled his way into the end zone. The PAT was blocked, but the Grizzly Cubs had bumped the lead to 23-7 with 4:20 on the clock.
Denny answered quickly, completing four of five passes and getting Mooresville back within 10 when he found Dorn for a 16-yard touchdown pass just 73 seconds later. But the momentum didn’t last long — Leugers ran the ensuing kickoff out near midfield, and a face mask call on the play set the Grizzly Cubs up with a short field at the Pioneer 37-yard line. The junior running back followed up with a 33-yard run to the 4, and Pinnick scored on a 6-yard keeper two plays later.
Franklin’s third-quarter avalanche continued with a strip sack of Denny on the next play from scrimmage, giving the hosts the ball at the Mooresville 22. Two incomplete passes and a penalty hurt the Grizzly Cub cause, however, and they turned it over on downs at the 17 as the quarter ended.
The Pioneers dominated from that point forward but didn’t have quite enough to get over the top.
Next week brings a chance to take sole possession of the conference lead with two weeks to go.
“The big thing is, we’ve just got to get better as a team,” Coll said. “Go into that game, play our butts off and see where we’re at.”
