Davis rushed for 106 yards and two second-half touchdowns as the Blue Devils finished the regular season 8-2 and 5-2 in the SWBL West Division.
“He’s shifty and he’s really matured this year,” said Brookville coach Mike Hetrick. “He’s working hard in practice. He blocks well for us, which is a must in what we do. He’s a kid that’s just kept working and working and he’s made some big plays for us this year.”
The Wildcats running game took control early in the game, but they weren’t able to capitalize, missing two field goals in the first quarter. They finally broke through in the second quarter when senior quarterback Drew Isaacs hit sophomore Hunter Prickett on a 24-yard TD pass to make it 7-0.
“It was a tale of two halves,” Franklin coach Larry Cox said. “We played like we’re capable of in the first half and we gave them the game in the second half. Credit to (Brookville). Their kids played hard and played within their structure. The biggest breakdowns we had today were discipline. Discipline is involved in handling the football. Discipline was involved when we lost the kick return they hit.”
After Prickett’s TD, Brookville’s Davis returned the ensuing kickoff to the Franklin 43-yard line. After shaving nearly five minutes off the clock, the Blue Devils scored on a 2-yard run by junior Grady Lamb to cut Franklin’s lead to 7-6 at the half.
Credit: Name Test
Credit: Name Test
“We knew it was going to be a tough, hard, physical game, it is every year with Franklin,” Hetrick said. “They’ve got tough kids and they play hard.”
Franklin received the ball to open the second half, but Blue Devils senior Mason Starnes recovered a fumble to give the ball back to Brookville midway through the third quarter.
After a 52-yard pass from sophomore Keegan Mehr to sophomore Kory Davis pushed the ball into Franklin territory, Tim Davis scored on a 3-yard run to give the Blue Devils the lead for good. Mehr again found Kory Davis on the two-point conversion to give Brookville a 14-7 lead.
“Our kids definitely capitalized on (the momentum),” Hetrick said. “It was the difference in the game, that kickoff return and the turnovers.”
Brookville recovered two more fumbles in the second half, including a fourth quarter recovery by Vinny Brookshire that led to an 18-yard TD run by Tim Davis to make it 21-7 with 4:23 remaining.
“They responded really well in the second half defensively,” Hetrick said. “We were able to punch it in twice. … Our kids hung in there. We’ve been battling a bunch of injuries. I’m really proud of the guys that have stepped in. They did a great job.”
Franklin finished the regular season 4-6 and 2-5 in the SWBL East Division. The Wildcats entered Week 10 ranked 11th in the Division III, Region 12 playoff rankings. With the loss, it’s unclear whether they’ll advance to Week 11.
“I’ll let that play itself out,” Cox said. “There’s nothing I can do about that now. That’s what I told our kids, our underclassmen need to learn right now, don’t put your playoff hopes in someone else’s hands, take control of your destiny. We didn’t do that tonight.”
Brookville has won three straight since falling to Eaton 29-7 in Week 7. With the victory, the Blue Devils likely earned a top-eight seed in the Division V, Region 20 playoffs, but it’s unclear who they’ll play in Week 11.
“I didn’t even try to figure it out,” Hetrick said. “There’s so many of those teams playing games below us, playing each other and one of those teams is going to get a lot of points. We could end up dropping and I wouldn’t be surprised. We’ll enjoy this tonight and enjoy a night off tomorrow night.”
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