Franklin-Simpson’s Dramatic Finish Over Spartans Move to 6-0

Early, it was a slow start for both teams, with defenses making plays. Franklin-Simpson did establish the run in its opening drive, but failed to score, even after converting a long third down to earn another series. South Warren was unable to do anything on offense, until Ryder Litten found Chris Sheppard between the hash marks. The play began on the 17 yard line, but ended in the end zone. It was an 83 yard touchdown, which included a series of broken tacklers and a hand plant spin to maintain a vertical base.

South Warren would find the scoreboard again following a Jackson Caudill fumble, this time a 66 yard touchdown pass from Litten to CJ Hayes. At 14-0 South Warren, the visitors appeared to possess all the momentum. But, no one told Josiah Robey.

Robey would catch a 30 yard touchdown on a pass that narrowly avoided a pair of Spartan defenders who each could have intercepted it. Hayes would make another big play, this one a 56 yard grab, and Litten would run it in from four yards to make it 21-7. Again, Josiah Robey wasn’t done.

With less than 90 seconds remaining in the half, Franklin-Simpson moved up the field, and it would be Robey on the receiving end of a 37 yard strike to cut the advantage to seven. Again, the pass was almost intercepted. That would become a theme.

South Warren’s Alex Cohron kicked a field goal with 3:58 left in the third quarter, but the bigger story was the Spartans inability to get into the end zone. SWHS had a 2nd and 1 on the FSHS six yard line, but a penalty and a loss on the ensuing running play ended the chances at the TD.

Franklin-Simpson, trailing by ten, would score the last 16 points of the contest, but it was all drama. South Warren quarterback Ryder Litten went down with what is feared to be a severe collarbone injury, and his backup, sophomore Cameron Harrison, was involved in two fumbles on back to back drives. The first didn’t end up harming SWHS on the scoreboard, but the second led to points.

A missed Wildcat extra point left South Warren up by four, but poor field position and bad penalties continued to doom Brandon Smith’s club. Franklin-Simpson would block a punt in the end zone, cutting the lead to two, and then came a patently ridiculous final drive.

Without hyperbole, South Warren won the game twice…almost. On fourth down, the Spartans stopped a Jackson Caudill quarterback scramble, but unnecessarily grabbed his face mask on the way down. That kept the drive alive. Then, an errant throw from Caudill went right into the hands of senior linebacker Jack Willey, who leaped into the sky, had it, hit the ground, cramped up, and lost the grip on the pigskin.

Hunter Janes made two beautiful catches on the final drive, the first a diving effort on 2nd and 24 that resulted in a first down, and the second on 4th and 10. The latter came on a jump ball thrown into into triple coverage, and somehow Janes was in the right spot and caught it on the one yard line with less than a half minute to play. He would also catch the two point conversion that gave FSHS a 30-24 lead.

In the final quarter, Jack Willey and Jacob Lacey, who both played fantastic football games, went down with cramps that put them out for multiple plays. Josiah Robey was knocked out of the game with a concussion as he collided in the end zone with CJ Hayes. He finished with three total touchdowns, including a 52 yard run to accompany his pair of receiving scores.

A side note on Janes. The senior’s grandmother passed away two days ago, and Hunter was playing with a heavy heart. She would have been extremely proud.