The Panthers are wet, tired, a little banged up. But they are also undefeated.
Franklin Road Academy (8-0, 1-0 DII-A E/M) passed its toughest test since its week two squeaker on Friday night, coming back from down four at halftime to a 34-14 win against visiting Lipscomb Academy.
Tailback Thomas Fortune and quarterback Spence Jones led the attack on the ground as FRA scored 24 straight points in the second half.
The Panthers rushed for 261 yards, while holding Lipscomb to 233 yards total.
“Consistency- we did not do things differently in the first than in the second half,” said FRA coach Bill Whittemore. “We just kept at it.”
(For all Williamson County action and scores, check out our Scoreboard.)
Panthers Push Past the Tipping Point
In the rain, neither team did much throwing the ball. Lipscomb (5-2), a very large team, looked like it was dominating the line of scrimmage in the first half. The Mustangs played to that advantage, pounding the ball with Carson Meador and William Phillips, slowing wearing down the FRA defense.
It seemed to be working , and by halftime the Panthers trailed for the first time since week two, when they eventually pulled through with a 42-41 double overtime win against.
But in the second half, things changed, bit by bit. Blocks held a beat longer, cuts came a step sooner and slowly a million little things tipped the game to the Panthers advantage.
And one big thing.
In the third quarter with the game still up in the air, Larry Wilhoite picked off Lipscomb quarterback John Merritt.
“That was the turning point,” Whittemore said.
FRA blanks Lipscomb in second half on the way to a 34-14 win! Undefeated at 8-0! #FRAfootball pic.twitter.com/XzrwJnVYwc
— Prentice Stabler (@FRAusDEAN) October 10, 2015
From there, Thomas Fortune (10 carries for 30 yards and 2 TDs) ran in a touchdown to put FRA up 17-14. Ryan Clark kicked his second field goal of the game to make it 20-14.
In the fourth, Spence Jones, who led the Panthers in rushing with 80 yards on 7 carries, capped a long drive with a 3-yard run. Jones finished 5 for 8 for 103 yards and a touchdown passing.
“That was a good win against a good team,” said Willhoite. You hung in there, traded blows, went pound for pound and knocked them down. I am proud of you, but we still have two tough games ahead of us.”
“Let’s keep it up,” said Sam Harvin.
Harvin led the team with 104 total offensive yards- 59 rushing on 13 carries and 45 receiving yards on one reception. His lone, long catch set up the first FRA score of the game, a 17-yard strike from Jones to Lance Wilhoite in the first quarter.
Phillips led Lipscomb with 16 carries for 79 yards; he also led the Mustangs receiving, with a catch for 22 yards. Merritt threw 4 for 8 for 49 yards and interception.
Woody Weicker led FRA on defense with 7 tackles and a sack.
Next week the Panthers prowl over to Davidson (5-1) for a Division II-A East/Middle matchup that could determine first place in the district. 
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