“There was no way I wasn’t going to play offense tonight,” Genslinger said after carrying the ball eight times for 159 yards and two scores in the Spartans’ 34-3 win. “I had to help my team in any way I could.”
Part of that drive to be back carrying the ball came with a 41-8 loss at Franklin in 2016.
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“That left a stain,” Genslinger said. “Some of it is going to continue to be there, but it really motivated the team.”
The motivation turned into what Spartans coach Bob Skidmore said was the most complete game his unbeaten squad had put together.
“I thought that everyone played well at the same time for the first time,” Skidmore said. “We remembered how it felt coming off the field last year and for the first time, offensively, defensively and special teams all played well.”
It was a rare hiccup for the Wildcats (4-1 overall, 1-1 in the Southwestern Buckeye League Southwestern Division), who had won seven straight SWBL Southwestern games and the last two matchups with Valley View.
“They obviously played better than we did at all three areas of the game,” Franklin coach Brad Childers said. “We were not able to capitalize on our opportunities, and they were able to keep all the momentum. Against a good team, you can’t leave points unaccounted for in the red zone, and we did that.”
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Franklin drove to the Valley View 2 on the first series of the night, but were held to a 19-yard Matt Schneider field goal and a 3-0 lead.
After the Spartans (5-0, 1-0) answered with a 23-yard TD run by Collin Wood, Franklin was on the march again when it lost a fumble at the Valley View 16.
Franklin’s offense started to sputter after the turnover, while Genslinger pushed the lead to 13-3 on a 24-yard run with 9:25 remaining in the half.
“We just took off from there,” Genslinger said.
Wood connected with Austin Clark right before the half on a third-down play from the Wildcats 12 for a 20-3 halftime lead. Genslinger put the game away on his first touch of the second half, an 82-yard run for a 27-3 cushion.
Will Harshberger’s run with 2:28 remaining in the third quarter started the running clock.
“That never would have entered my mind,” Skidmore said of a running clock. “But we made a couple huge plays after the turnover and kept the momentum going our way. It seemed like everything we needed something good to happen, it did.”
The Spartans finished with 336 yards of offense, with 282 coming on the ground. Valley View’s defense held Franklin to 164 yards with Ryan Montgomery accounting for 75 on the ground and 28 in the air when forced into action at quarterback after starter Braden Woods was lost in the first quarter with a foot injury.
“Adversity presented itself, and we certainly could have handled it better,” Childers said. “We have a lot of work we have to do as a team to move on.”
Next Friday, the Wildcats will travel to Waynesville and the Spartans will visit Bellbrook.
Franklin 3-0-0-0—3
Valley View 7-13-14-0—34
F: Matt Schneider 19 field goal
V: Collin Wood 23 run (Christian Meyers kick)
V: Collin Genslinger 17 run (Kick failed)
V: Austin Clark 12 pass from Wood (Meyers kick)
V: Genslinger 82 run (Meyers kick)
V: Will Harshberger 53 run (Meyers kick)
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