Franklin Road Academy (FRA) managed to overcome two fumbles in the final four minutes to top Davidson Academy 31-28. For the second straight week, FRA held their opponents scoreless in the second half to secure the victory. The Panthers left the field to the chants of their students that traveled to the game of “nine and oh”.
After an FRA punt, Adrian Roper opened the scoring for the Panthers with a touchdown run after a Davidson Academy fumble, but the Bears responded immediately to tie the game at 7-7. On the ensuing drive, two Sam Harvin runs set up a 48-yard pass from Spence Jones to Larry Wilhoite for another Panther touchdown. Before the end of the first quarter, Davidson Academy responded with another touchdown to make it 14-14 as the teams switched ends.
In the second quarter, the FRA Panthers went back to the ground game and, after being set up by Woody Weicker, Wilhoite finished the drive with a touchdown run to give the Panthers the lead again. But as they had after the first two FRA scores, Davidson Academy responded once again to the tie the game at 21. Thomas Fortune would open the next FRA drive with a 53-yard run, but the drive would stall and the Panthers would settle for a 34-yard Ryan Clark field goal to retake the lead, 24-21. But once again, Davidson Academy would respond at the end of the half, this time with a touchdown to take a 28-24 lead into the locker room.
Turnovers would stifle the two offenses through the 3rd quarter, so the score would remain 28-24 at the start of the 4th quarter. FRA would finish their last drive of the 3rd quarter early in the 4th with another Larry Wilhoite touchdown run. FRA would force a Bear field goal attempt that would fall short. FRA looked to ice the game with a long touchdown drive, but the Panthers would fumble the ball at the DA 1-yard line. The Bears would drive, but would be intercepted by Lance Wilhoite. The celebration wouldn’t begin just yet, as the Panthers would give the ball back to the Bears for one last chance. Davidson Academy would get the ball to the FRA 20 yard line with 17 seconds left and no timeouts, but a bad snap for the Bears would make them unable to get the play off, giving the Panthers the victory.
Through their first nine games, different backs have stepped up to lead the Panthers. This week it was Larry Wilhoite who led the potent Panthers offense with 22 carries for 122 yards and 2 touchdowns and caught a touchdown as well. The win moved the FRA Panthers to 9-0 and secured a first round home playoff game in the Division II-A playoffs.
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