FRANKLIN, Ind. — Once Franklin was able to wrest away the ball from visiting Bluffton, it got its offense going in the second half en route to a 21-20 victory at Stewart "Red" Faught Stadium today.
The Grizzlies' come-from-behind triumph improved FC to 2-2 in the Heartland Collegiate Athletic Conference and 2-6 overall and dropped the Beavers to 0-4 in the league and 2-6 in all games.
Though Bluffton led Franklin by just seven points at halftime at 14-7, the Beavers hogged the ball for 23 of the first 30 minutes. In fact, Bluffton's second touchdown was scored on a 25-play, 74-yard drive that chewed up 11½ minutes.
Franklin, which had just 82 total offensive yards in its seven-plus minutes of time of possession, got going after the intermission and ended up outgaining the Beavers in total offensive yards for the game (360 to 331), running 22 fewer plays.
FC tied the game at 14-14 when sophomore quarterback Geoff Zentz hit freshman wingback Danny Sears on a 27-yard TD pass play up the middle with six minutes left in the third quarter -- Sears' first touchdown as a Grizzly. Zentz took over for starting senior quarterback Jerremy Neibert in the middle of the 11-play, 97-yard drive after Neibert cut his arm on a rushing play.
If Franklin's defense was going to be tired after all of Bluffton's offensive possession time, it almost appeared that way before the third quarter was over when Beavers quarterback Jared Owens set up the visitors' go-ahead score. He did it with some deft running on a quarterback draw play that gained 48 yards to the Grizzlies' 6-yard-line. Tailback Ben Dodds then took it into the end zone on the next play, tallying his third rushing TD of the afternoon. Dodds had scoring rushes of 2 and 1 yards in the first half.
But the Grizzlies' defense in fact came up biggest in the fourth period, forcing Bluffton to fumble on Franklin's 29 early in the final quarter and later stopping the Beavers cold with a huge sack by senior lineman Joe Robling on a third-and-9 play at Bluffton's 46.
In the middle of those defensive stops, Franklin scored the go-ahead points when Zentz hit senior wingback Kevin Clark on a 11-yard lob into the corner of the end zone with 7:37 to go. Freshman kicker Kenny Jordan booted the crucial extra point kick to put the hosts up to stay at 21-20.
Zentz completed 17 of 23 passes for 221 yards and the two TDs after Neibert completed eight of nine tosses for 100 yards and one touchdown. Clark had six receptions for 41 yards and senior split end Ryan Vest had five catches for 96 yards. Vest's receptions included a 3-yard catch in the first quarter and a spectacular catch on a third-down, 38-yard play prior to Clark's TD. Senior split end Ryan Okerson had five catches for 92 yards and Sears made five receptions for 60.
For Bluffton, Owens completed 16 of 22 passes for 161 yards and rushed 19 times for a net 49 yards. Dodds rushed 33 times for 105 of the Beavers' 170 rushing yards and the three TDs. Mark Gable and Bill Fisher each had five receptions for 63 and 60 yards, respectively.
Game Story
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