Late First-Half Surge Lifts Franklin to Second Straight Win Over Oil City

| September 2, 2017


OIL CITY, Pa. (EYT) – In 3:40 before halftime, the Franklin Knights exploded for three touchdowns to shock Oil City and turn a 20-14 deficit into a 32-20 lead heading into the locker room on their way to a 44-36 win over the rival Oilers.

(Photo by Bruce Lux)

“It’s just the momentum,” Franklin head coach Tom Haynes said. “It gets you going into halftime. That’s all those little things you try to get in high school football. We were able to get that momentum going to start the second half and then we just ran with it.”

Leading 20-14, it looked like Oil City was ready to score again after Christian Cole intercepted an Ian Haynes pass and a few plays later the Oilers had first-and-10 at the Knights’ 28-yard line.

But fighting for extra yardage, Cole was stripped of the ball at the 21-yard line, and Brendon Gorden scooped it up and went 71 yards for the game-tying score.

After forcing a punt, the Knights took over at their 28 with 1:43 left in the first half. On second-and-8 Haynes connected with Brandon Johnson for 38 yards and three plays later Zack Baughman scored on a 1-yard plunge to give Franklin the lead.

Trying to get a touchdown back before halftime, Oil City began at it 45-yard line with 37 seconds remaining.

After reaching the Knights 26-yard line quarterback, Dylin Chapin threw into the deep middle where his pass intercepted by Johnson who proceeds to weave his way through the Oil City tacklers en route to a 96-yard touchdown return with no time left on the first half clock.

“There’s no question, the turnovers were huge tonight,” said Haynes. “We thought if we could get them in a position where they had to throw the football we’d be okay.

“Turnovers help you, there’s no doubt about that. They were punching us in the mouth in the beginning, and we were able to that loose ball on the goal line that was huge, just huge,” said Haynes.

The turnover bug bit the Oilers right from the start as they took the opening kickoff and went 78 yards on the first five plays.

On first-and-goal from the 1-inch line, Chapin tried to a sneak that was ruled a fumble as he crossed the goal line with Franklin falling on it for a touchback.

“I would say the turnovers were the difference in the game,” Oil City head coach Dan York said. “Anytime you score (off them), it plays a factor in the game. The one on our first drive was the big killer because I thought we scored and they called it a touchback in the end zone. That’s the way it goes sometimes.”

Even with the opening turnover, the Oilers were still able to strike first with an 11-play, 78-yard drive capped with Cole’s 5-yard touchdown.

Franklin responded with a 6-play 82-yard drive as Gorden scored his first of four touchdowns on a 7-yard scamper. Eli Stewart’s 41-yard run was the big play of the drive.

But Cole took the ensuing kickoff back 86 yards giving the Oilers a 13-6 lead after a quarter.

Before the 20-point explosion in the second quarter, the teams traded scores as Haynes and Gorden hooked up on a 38-yard touchdown pass for Franklin, and Matt Hutchinson scored from 12 yards out for the Oilers giving them the 20-12 lead.

Franklin added to its lead at the start of the second half with Gorden’s 10-yard run finishing off an 8-play, 60-yard drive that saw Knights quarterback Haynes throw for 44 yards on the drive. He completed 17-of-30 passes in the game 287 yards with a touchdown and an interception.

Oil City put together a short a 41-yard drive capped by Cole’s 12-yard run making the score 38-28, but Johnson returned the kickoff 58 yards on top of an unsportsmanlike conduct penalty on the Oilers which ld to Stewart’s 13-yard run that put Franklin in front 44-28 after three quarters.

Hunter Haun hauled in a 32-yard touchdown pass with 6:58 remaining pulling the Oilers back to within a touchdown at 44-36.

The Oil City defense stepped up and forced the Knights first punt of the game as they took over at their 16-yard line with 5:31 left in the game.

The Oilers picked up 25 yards before Noah Turk’s interception sealed the win for Franklin with 1:55 to go.

“Oil City battled, and it was fought right until the end,” said Haynes. “That’s what I expect when these two teams get together. I’m proud of my guys they executed when they needed to execute. We just need to get healthy, so we can do what we need to do next week.

“All of our kids battled tonight you saw that with Noah Turk making a big play and getting that interception.”

Cole had a big game to lead Oil City as he rushed 147 yards on 25 carries. Gorden had 222 yards of total offense for Franklin as both teams offenses were red hot as the game saw 926 yards of offense combined.

“We did throw the ball more than we wanted to tonight,” York said. “But that happens when you’re trailing. We were playing catch up after a while. But, all things considered, we still had our chance at the end of the to move the ball downfield and tie it. That’s how close the game was.

Story by Shane Lux

Franklin 44 Oil City 36

Franklin 6 26 12 0- 44
Oil City 13 7 8 8 – 36

Scoring Summary

First Quarter

OC – Christian Cole 5 yd run (Dan McQuaide pat), 2:13

F – Brendon Gorden 7 yd run (Pat Blocked), :33

OC – Christian 86 yd kickoff return (Pass Failed), :19

Second Quarter

F – Gorden 38 yd pass Ian Haynes (Rush Failed), 10:23

OC – Matt Hutchinson 12 yd run (McQuaide pat), 6:23

F – Gorden 79 yd fumble return (Gorden from Haynes), 3:40

F – Zack Baughman 1 yd run (Rush Failed), :42

F – Brandon Johnson 96 yd interception return (Pass Failed), :00

Third Quarter

F – Gorden 10 yd run (Pass Failed), 5:20

OC – Cole 12 yd run (Christian rush), 3:05

F – Eli Stewart 13 yd run (Pass Failed), 2:31

Fourth Quarter

OC – Hunter Haun 32 yd pass from Dylin Chapin (Christian rush), 6:58

Team Stats

F OC

First Downs 21 22
Rushes-Yards 36-206 42-281
Passing Yards 287 152
Comp-Att-Int 17-30-1 7-16-2
Total Yards 493 433
Fumbles-Lost 3-2 3-2
Penalties-Yards 3-33 6-65
Punts-Avg. 1-34 1-6

Individual Stats

Rushing: Franklin – Zack Baughman 14-44, Bredon Gorden 11-112, Eli Stewart 9-57, Team 2-(-7), Totals: 36-206. Oil City – Cole 25-147, Josh Puleo 6-72, Hutchinson 9-49, Dylin Chapin 2-13. Totals: 42-281.

Passing: Franklin – Ian Haynes 17-of-30 287 yards, 1 Touchdown, 1 Interception. Oil City – Chapin 7-of-16 152 yards, 1 touchdown 1 Int.

Receiving: Franklin – Gorden 4-110, Brandon Johnson 5-87, Dalton Buckley 6-51, Noah Turk 2-30. Oil City – Caden Highfield 3-79, Hunter Haun 3-65, Hutchinson 1-8.

Interceptions: Franklin 2 (Johnson) (Noah Turk). Oil City – (Cole).


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