By Zachary Harmuth
Franklin (8-3) lost its third game out of its last four Friday night and Station Camp eliminated it from the playoffs in a 24-17 contest.
Franklin, after starting the season 7-0, had a rough go of things since the middle of October, when it lost its first game of the year against Ravenwood by one point.
On Friday, Station Camp limited Franklin to a season-low 48-yards rushing. Coming into the game, the Rebels had not run for less than 124 yards in a game.
They made up for it by passing, as quarterback Joe Critchlow led Franklin to a season-high 282 yards through the air.
However, the lack of balance was out of character for the Rebels, who won all season with a balanced attack- for the year the team averaged 194 yards passing and 161 yards rushing per game.
The difference in this game for Franklin was the second quarter. After a scoreless first, Franklin gave up two touchdowns in the second quarter and scored only one. The rest of the game the Rebels played catch up, but performed evenly. Both teams scored 10 points in the second half.
So with just a touchdown separating the teams, little mistakes became magnified. An interception and a fumble made for the two Rebel turnovers; not terrible but enough to give Station Camp an advantage.
Notably, Colton Black, Franklin’s leading rusher on the year with 783 yards and 10 touchdowns, had zero yards on just one carry in this game.
Critchlow, who had thrown just one interception since the end of September, threw one in this one. He finished the season with 2100 yards passing, 25 touchdowns and only 5 interceptions.
Ben Hagaman finished the season with 392 yards receiving on 24 catches for 7 touchdowns; fellow senior receiver Tony Flemister led the team with 434 yards receiving on 28 catches for 3 touchdowns.
The Rebels lose both receivers, along with Black, next year to graduation, but will have Critchlow returning for his senior season.
It might come as some consolation for the Franklin faithful to know just how close they were to a perfect season: the three losses were for a combined 9 points. Moreover, the two regular season losses (vs Ravenwood and vs Independence) came by just two combined points.
Thus ends a successful but perhaps slightly disappointing season for Franklin. Better luck next year, for the Rebels.
