MEADVILLE — For four quarters Friday night, Franklin County’s defense hit Mendenhall with everything it had, and the Tigers couldn’t do anything about it.
Franklin High, winner of four straight, put on a defensive show, forcing three turnovers, notching two safeties and holding Mendenhall to 51 yards total offense in the Bulldogs’ 37-7 win in non-conference action.
“Our defense played extremely well,” Franklin County head coach Trent Hammond said. “In the first half they basically kept us in the game.”
The Bulldogs (4-2) scored the game’s first 11 points from the defensive side of the ball, as junior cornerback Milton Griffin opened the game with a 15-yard interception return for a quick touchdown. Junior kicker Coleman Graves added the extra point for the 7-0 lead.
Mendenhall (0-6), member of Region 5-5A, had no answer to the Bulldogs’ defensive pressures, as Franklin County collected consecutive safeties for an 11-0 edge.
Bulldogs’ senior Darnell Ford, who rushed for a game-high 133 yards on 13 carries, gave Franklin County a 17-0 lead with a tackle-breaking 36-yard touchdown run.
In the third quarter, Franklin County seniors Tevin Thomas, Jermaine Stander and Edward McGhee each added touchdown runs for a dominating 37-0 lead.
Franklin County substituted freely in the fourth quarter, and Mendenhall took advantage scoring on a 3-yard run to cut the score to 37-7.
“Our offense played a lot better in the second half,” Hammond said. “In the first half, I was frustrated with how we played offensively. We had three fumbles and we had two touchdowns called back on us because of penalties we shouldn’t be making.”
Franklin County had 328 yards total offense, 308 of it coming on the ground.
On defense, Tevin Thomas led the Bulldogs with 11 tackles, a quarterback sack and a pass deflection. LaDarrious Hunt added nine tackles, and Frank Hunt eight. Bobby O’Quinn and Brad Covington each had six tackles. Griffin had four pass deflections, three tackles and two interceptions.
The Bulldogs travel to Wilkinson County Oct. 2 to open Region 7-3A play.
