Franklinton is looking to bounce back from last opening game loss and hosts Fontainebleau tonight at 7 p.m.
“The kids are upbeat. We struggled last week on defense. We had one kickoff return that wasn’t great. This week is all about us. It’s all about getting better and the improvements we need to make,” Franklinton coach Stephen Burris said.
In last week’s 69-32 loss to Covington, Franklinton allowed a kickoff return for a touchdown, allowed an interception return for a score off of a deflection, and allowed two onside kicks where the drives ended in touchdowns.
James Bickham and Willis Magee led the team with eight tackles, while Wyatt Hensley posted seven.
Offensively, the Demons were solid and put up four touchdowns, with another coming on a kickoff return by Kian Conerly.
Tahj Magee threw for 142 yards and ran for 128 yards with three touchdowns. Shayland Allen caught four passes for 65 yards. Rakerian Conerly had five receptions for 31 yards to go with four carries for 22 yards, with Lagarian Bell at three receptions for 34 yards.
“We’re doing a lot of a good things (on offense),” Burris said. “We’ve just got to keep progressing. Defensively, we need to start playing defense. This week should be better than last week. Covington’s really explosive on offense. We made some changes and that should pay dividends.”
Running back Trequan Charles ran for 47 yards and had a reception for 12 yards.
James Bickham and Willis Magee tallied eight tackles apiece for the Demons. Wyatt Hensley posted seven.
Fontainebleau enters this week after falling to Lakeshore, 49-10, to begin the season.
“It’s all a learning experience with the guys we have,” Fontainebleau coach Chris Blocker said. “We’re fairly young. We had the big rivalry last week (schools are about six miles apart) and I think we let the bright lights affect our minds. We felt good after the scrimmage and jamboree, but we lost our focus under the bright lights. Going into this week, it’s regaining the focus and taking it one week at a time.”
Junior Dawson Nelson, who is a first-year starter, is the quarterback. Junior Jayden Davenport, who is a first-year starter, is the running back along with freshman Iverson Celestine.
Darrell Tott is the senior receiver, but he has been injured and Blocker is not sure if he will be back for Friday’s game. The other two receivers are junior Brett Johnson and sophomore Jacoby Kirby. Johnson is coming off an injury and played a little last week.
Blocker said his top defenders are a pair of senior linebackers — Michael Malbrough and Jordan Burke.