Franklin football scores season-changing win against Milford
· Yahoo Sports
FRANKLIN -- There was nothing subtle about the Franklin High football team's 17-14 Hockomock League victory against Milford on Friday, Oct. 9.
In a game that came down to huge, showstopping moments, the Panthers rallied for the win through tough defensive plays and smart decision-making against previously unbeaten Milford.
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With just minutes to go in the third quarter, Milford's Wanderson Dos Santos weaved his way down the field, reaching the 1-yard line after carries of 10 and 13. With a first down, Franklin was going to need a big stop to prevent the score that would give Milford the lead heading into the fourth quarter.
The defense pushed back Milford into a fourth-and-5, forcing them to attempt a field goal that missed. Franklin then held onto its 17-14 lead through the final quarter, even recovering a fumbled punt return in the last 10 seconds of the game to eliminate Milford's chance of making a late comeback.
"They are knocking on the door, ready to take the lead," Franklin coach Todd Kiley said of the defensive moment. "We're going to look on film and find everybody was perfection on assignment, I bet, because you don't stop a team like that at the 1-yard line, four straight times, unless everybody's doing their job."
Defining moments
Franklin showed this execution in several other "defining moments," as Kiley described it, throughout the game.
Milford's Jaxson Finnimore scored on a diving catch in the end zone on a throw from Vincent Loscerbo to take a 14-10 lead with less than 30 seconds in the second quarter. Franklin moved quickly down the field on the punt return and got in position for a field goal with time running out but failed the attempt.
The missed field goal didn't rattle the Panthers. Instead, it set them up for the score that gave them the win: Franklin's quarterback Ethan Edmunds made a heads-up play calling his own number and scored a 22-yard touchdown.
Edmunds also made a 10-yard touchdown pass to Christian Holmes in the first quarter that opened the game's scoring.
Kicker Owen Webster had two PATs and a 25-yard field goal.
"It really defined who this team is. Just the intestinal fortitude, the mental toughness that we talk about with these guys, they came through with it," Kiley said.
"We play football for games like this," Edmunds added. "We want to play our (Hockomock League) rival on a tight, close game and it's just a win that you look back on at the end of the year that you're like, 'That changed our season.'"
Loscerbo also scored Milford's first TD of the game with a 10-yard QB keep in the second quarter. Tyler Stewart kicked two extra points for the Scarlett Hawks.
The victory brings Franklin to 4-1 and drops Milford to 4-1 after Week 5. The Panthers play Attleboro next week and Milford will face Abington.
This article originally appeared on The Milford Daily News: Franklin football scores season-changing win against Milford