Franklin bottled up one of the top teams in the state for nearly three quarters Friday in the first round of the Class 6A high school football playoffs, but then the wheels fell off and Cane Ridge raced into the second round. The fourth-ranked Ravens improved to 11-0 and claimed a 41-6 win to advance to the second round where they will face Ravenwood next week. Cane Ridge scored five unanswered touchdowns to blow open a 7-6 game in the second half. "That's a really good football team over there," Franklin coach Donnie Webb said. "Coach (Eddie) Woods, my hats off to him, he does a heckuva job. We corralled them for a long time, but we left too many plays. We left way too many plays out there."
Franklin picked up a big first down on their next possession to cross midfield, but fumbled after a completion from Nichols to Spencer Holder. Cane Ridge handed off to Starling near midfield and the senior broke to the right sideline for a 51-yard run two plays later. He was brought down at 1-yard line and punched it in on the next play for the Ravens' fourth straight touchdown in about seven minutes of game time. Less than two minutes later, Franklin's Connor Beavon had a pass picked off and returned to the 5-yard line before Norman ran it on the next play to provide the final TD. Starling closed with 161 yards on 17 carries with one TD on the ground to go with his two pick-6s. He has more than 1,900 yards rushing with 22 TDs on the ground this season. Cane Ridge out-gained Franklin 304-220, which was 130 yards less than their season average.
"Our defense played lights out," Webb said. "We had opportunities on offense, too, and didn't play bad ... but it just got away from us." Christian Moolman tallied five tackles with two sacks to lead the Rebels defense. Rashad Jenkins added four tackles and a sack, while three other Rebels recorded four tackles. Ian Burr connected on both his field goal attempts and Matt Gaca rushed for 57 yards on 13 carries for the Franklin offense. Nichols threw for 155 yards and finished with nearly 1,200 passing yards this season to be the first Franklin quarterback since Joe Critchlow in 2014 to eclipse the 1,000-yard passing mark. With about three minutes to play, a late hit on the Franklin sideline triggered a shoving match between several players. Webb and his staff quickly stepped into the scuffle to break it up as flags went flying. Ultimately, Webb sent one of his players to the locker room early and told his kids "not to disgrace the game." He kept his team from shaking hands with the Ravens post game to avoid further confrontation, taking a moment at midfield with coach Woods, who motioned for his team to stay on the Cane Ridge sideline as well. "I just wanted to keep them cool. They are great kids," Webb said of his team. "They are going to be great men in life, but we just a got a little frustrated with our own mistakes. "Good luck to (Cane Ridge). They are a great football team."
The Ravens will host Ravenwood in the second round. The Raptors first round game was cancelled when their opponent Overton was forced to forfeit after being ruled ineligible for the playoffs following a fight at the end of the Bobcats regular season finale against Antioch. Much of the Ravenwood team and staff were on hand to watch the game Friday. Cane Ridge beat the Raptors 21-18 in the quarterfinals last season. The Ravens improved to 44-6 since the 2015 season with Friday's win. The Rebels ended the 2018 campaign with a 6-5 record.
Source: Williamson Herald