Franklin’s Alex Leugers avoids getting tripped up by a diving Greenwood defender on his way to a big gain.
Rob Baker | For the Daily Journal
Franklin came into Greenwood on Friday night mired in a five-game losing streak. Alex Leugers was not about to let it become six — not with a traveling trophy on the line in a rivalry game.
The senior running back piled up 342 yards and four touchdowns, gaining 210 of those yards after halftime to help the Grizzly Cubs pull away for a 41-14 victory at Greenwood in the annual Cannon Clash.
“My O-line was making the holes super big, and I was just hitting them as hard as I can,” Leugers said. “We just kept being physical with them, and it seemed like they didn’t want to tackle us anymore.”
The contest was tied 14-14 at the break but momentum shifted quickly in the third quarter, as Leugers broke off a 50-yard run on the first snap to give the Grizzly Cubs first and goal at the 9; on third down, quarterback Greyson Betts lured the defense away with a fake handoff and waltzed in from 2 yards out. The Woodmen (2-6, 1-5 Mid-State) drove into Franklin territory on their next possession but turned it over on downs; Leugers scored on a 46-yard burst three plays later to double the margin with 3:54 left in the third quarter.
Following a Greenwood punt, Leugers went back to work with a 62-yard run to get inside the Woodmen 10. On third and goal, Betts scored on a 1-yard keeper, making it 34-14 with 11:23 to go in the game.
Franklin defensive back Landen Basey then returned his third interception of the night to the Greenwood 29-yard line, and Leugers took it from there in two carries, scoring from 5 yards out on his 29th and final rush of the game with 8:49 remaining.
“He covers up a lot of issues,” Grizzly Cubs coach Chris Coll said of Leugers.
The Woodmen turned the ball over on downs to start the game, but they got the ball right back on the next play when Gunner Ruppert picked off a Betts pass to set Greenwood up at the Franklin 11-yard line. Three plays later, Ruppert drilled it into the end zone from half a yard out to give the home team a 6-0 lead.
Franklin (3-5, 1-5) went three and out on its next possession but got the ball back near midfield shortly thereafter, courtesy of a Basey interception. Thirteen plays later, Leugers scored on a 4-yard run to tie it and Matt Payne’s conversion kick put the Grizzly Cubs up one with 10:52 left in the half.
Leugers broke free for a 56-yard run on Franklin’s next possession to move the ball into the red zone, but he was stuffed by Greenwood linebacker Tyson Jones on fourth down from the 12-yard line. No matter — Basey made his second pick of the half and returned it to the Woodmen 4, setting up another TD rush by Leugers that made it 14-6.
Greenwood got a response in before halftime, driving 65 yards behind the legs of Ruppert and a costly roughing the passer penalty that helped the Woodmen advance to the Grizzly Cubs’ 20. Ruppert trotted in untouched from the 10 three plays later, and Parker Jarboe’s two-point pass to Ben Hommell created a deadlock at the 1:44 mark.
Each side had a chance to score before halftime, but Greenwood lost a fumble at midfield and Franklin ran out of time when Andre Watson sacked Betts on the final play of the period.
Ruppert finished with 120 yards rushing on 30 carries but exited with an apparent injury early in the third quarter; the Woodmen didn’t score the rest of the way, picking up just three more first downs. His absence was felt just as sorely on defense, where Greenwood had already lost leading tackler Ethan Lobb in the first quarter.
“We lost our two starting inside linebackers tonight. … When those two both went down, that’s when Leugers really started to gash us,” Woodmen coach Justin Boser said. “We’ve got a freshman (Leland Morton) in there trying to do his best at running back; we’ve got a sophomore (Jarboe) in there trying to do his best at quarterback. We’re just really banged up right now, and we’ve just got to try to get through next week without any more injuries.”
On the other side, Coll was happy to see his team rewarded after persevering through a difficult stretch of games.
“These kids have stayed the course and kept working,” he said. “We’ve had good practices, good practice weeks. It’s been kind of tough — we’ve had some games we could’ve, should’ve, whatever, but they stayed the course and stayed with it. This is a good win for us.”
Greenwood travels to Whiteland for its regular-season finale, while Franklin hosts Decatur Central.
