Franklin’s Alex Leugers (28) avoids a diving tackle by Greenwood’s Davion Jones as he heads for the first touchdown of the game.
Rob Baker | For the Daily Journal
The traveling trophy awarded to the winner of the annual Cannon Clash game isn’t going anywhere.
Franklin saw to it, defeating visiting Greenwood 35-21 on Friday night for what was the Grizzly Cubs’ third consecutive victory against their longtime county and Mid-State Conference rival.
Junior running back Alex Leugers toted the pigskin 22 times for 239 yards and four touchdowns to lead the way for Franklin, which is now 5-3 overall and 4-2 in conference.
“I feel like we competed really well. Played hard. Played physical,” Franklin coach Chris Coll said. “I felt like we kind of controlled the line of scrimmage on both sides, in that first half especially.
“I thought our back end defensively held up about as well as it’s held up all year as far as coverage and making some plays.”
Senior quarterback Clay Pinnick’s 79-yard touchdown with 6:27 left in the fourth quarter put the Cubs up, 35-7. Senior back Alan Burnett scored on runs of 3 and 7 yards for Greenwood to cut into the lead late, but the final Woodmen onside kick attempt rolled out of bounds.
Pinnick finished with 128 yards rushing on 12 carries. Franklin as a team had 378 yards rushing.
Overall, an impressive turnaround after losing last week at Plainfield, 38-3.
“This was huge,” Leugers said. “Our team came back, did what we needed to do. The D … they saved us. They locked down, our O-line did great. A huge step up.
“The offensive line, they’ve been doing it all year. They work really hard in practice, and it’s just a great group.”
Leugers churned out 172 of his yards on the ground in the opening half, his three touchdowns giving the Grizzly Cubs a 21-0 lead at halftime.
The Greenwood defense stuffed Leugers for a 3-yard loss on the game’s opening play. On the second, however, the junior burst up the middle and outraced Woodmen defenders to the end zone, covering 67 yards.
Leugers’ second score came on a 3-yard burst at 5:08 of the second in which the Grizzly Cubs’ back powered into the end zone despite the best effort of multiple Greenwood defenders attempting to bring him down.
On his third TD, scored at the 2:57 mark of the second period, the Franklin offensive line created a massive hole in the middle for Leugers to accelerate through, going 48 yards untouched.
Greenwood produced 76 yards through the air in the first half, and negative-2 yards on the ground.
The Woodmen (4-4, 2-4) caught a break late in the half when their punt glanced off a Grizzly Cubs player and was recovered by Greenwood at the home team’s 31. Four plays later, the Woodmen were still scoreless after losing yards on a pair of runs, gaining 15 yards on a Brock Riddle completion to senior Chase Monroe, and Riddle’s incomplete pass on fourth down with 42.4 seconds showing.
Sophomore back Gunner Ruppert scored on a 9-yard run for Greenwood’s first points at the 7:50 mark of the fourth. Ruppert finished with 66 rushing yards on 11 carries.
Whiteland scored a 22-8 win against Plainfield on Friday, moving the Grizzly Cubs back into a tie atop the conference standings.
Franklin wraps up the regular season at Decatur Central on Friday, while Greenwood hosts Whiteland.
“That’s a huge game,” Leugers said. “It’s really going to tell us where we’re at. Hopefully, we can pull of the W and get ready for sectionals.”
