Franklin College football earns road win

<p>Staff Reports</p><p>A week after taking the first loss of the Alan Hensell era, the Franklin College football team made sure to avoid a second straight.</p><p>The Grizzlies led throughout on the way to a 26-21 victory at Bluffton on Saturday afternoon.</p><p>Carter Brown opened the scoring for Franklin (3-1) with a 31-yard field goal, and the visitors stretched the lead to 10 later in the first quarter when Cameron Johnson scored on a 9-yard run.</p><p>The Beavers got on the board with a touchdown at the 4:40 mark of the second quarter, but a 2-yard run from Derek Thompson helped the Grizzlies go into the break with a 17-7 cushion. Brown then capped the first drive of the third with a 24-yard field goal.</p><p>From there, Bluffton was left playing catch-up. The hosts cut it to 20-14 by the end of the third quarter, but Franklin got an insurance score in the fourth when Dane Andrews hooked up with Orrin Schmidt for a 15-yard TD pass.</p><p>The Beavers tacked on another touchdown with two seconds left to make the final score a bit closer.</p><p>Andrews finished his day 17 of 25 passing for 231 yards to lead the Grizzlies, who ended the game with a 409-345 edge in total offense. Thompson totaled 75 yards rushing on 26 carries.</p><p>Defensively, Kody Wilkerson recorded a dozen tackles and forced a fumble to lead the Franklin effort. Cam Levers made seven tackles and broke up three passes, and Aaron Black came up with his second interception of the season.</p><p>The Grizzlies are back on the road this Saturday at Rose-Hulman.</p>