Franklin stands alone in first place following Week 3 sweep

BRENTWOOD – Midway through the second half of their 13-6 win over Summit, Franklin’s sideline was all abuzz.

Word had filtered down to the players that Ravenwood had knocked Fairview from the ranks of the unbeaten, and they had an opportunity to finish the daily alone atop the girls’ flag football standings.

In a game that was quite physical in the second half, Franklin was able to do just that, withstanding a late rally by Brentwood to emerge with a Week 3 sweep and their unblemished record intact.

With a tired smile on her face, Franklin wide receiver Charlotte Robertson said the mood was all business coming into the game.

“We knew we had to come in here and get two wins,” Robertson said, “try and take care of business and see what would happen around the league.”

Franklin senior Abby Pillow eludes a Summit defender as she seeks extra yardage during Sunday’s contest at Brentwood. (Scott Burton/615 Preps)

Franklin came out throwing, following the same formula they had discovered success within the early game, but Brentwood made quick flag pulls and forced two straight punts to keep the game scoreless. Brentwood got moving on its first drive as quarterback Ella Saliba, getting her first start due to an injury to regular starter Brooke Brummett, marched the Bruins down. Saliba capped the drive with a touchdown pass to Haley Hannah who had slipped behind the defense just inside the end line.

Brentwood coach Gabe Evans said that the loss of their starting quarterback had an effect on the offense.

“Ella Saliba got pushed into that role on Wednesday and I think she did a great job,” Evans said. “She managed the game really well. Our receivers have to do a better job of catching the ball.”

Franklin quarterback Hannah Harvey got the Admirals going using a combination of option pitches before hitting a long strike to Robertson. On fourth-and-goal, it appeared that Abby Pillow had corralled a Harvey pass and crossed into the endzone, however, Skyler Calloway made the pull at the two-inch line forcing a turnover on downs. The good fortune was short-lived, as Franklin came up with a safety on the very next play when senior Kate Reed blitzed in and caught Mallory Voyles in the endzone.

“We did a poor job offensively early of throwing and catching the ball,” Franklin coach Donnie Webb said. “Big pull by (Reed). That’s what our girls do best, they pull flags really well. That’s why they haven’t lost a game.”

An Emma Nahill interception, one of three in the game, set up the next score, a perfectly placed pass from Harvey to Robertson gave Franklin an 8-7 lead with 2:52 left in the first half.

Two minutes later Harvey found Robertson again, this time with Robertson leaping high to pull in the score, her head slamming to the turf in the process. Shaken, Robertson was able to walk off the field and returned to the game later. The two-point conversion to Pillow gave the Admirals a 15-7 lead that they held at halftime.

Brentwood senior Kendall Overgaard (12) and Franklin senior Charlotte Menko battle for the ball during Sunday’s game. (Scott Burton/615 Preps)

“It did knock the breath out of me a little bit, but I was fine,” Robertson said. “It was just shocking at the time.”

The second half became a more physical contest with things getting a bit chippy between the two squads. Both teams had trouble establishing drives and it was late in the second when Emmie Maumus took the inside handoff and scampered five yards to put Franklin up 21-7.

“Did that not get physical?” Webb recounted with a grin. “We try to tell the girls to have fun and enjoy playing together, but some many of these girls play other sports … some of the competition and rivalry shows up from the other sports. We went back to our girls and reminded them to have fun.”

Brentwood scored with 1:44 remaining on a one-yard run by Rylan Harris. Hannah’s extra point reception brought the final score to 21-14.

While not satisfied with the results, Evans saw improvement in his team.

“Losing those two games hurts, especially when you lose both of them by a score,” Evans said. “We competed, and we competed the whole game. We’re going in the right direction.”

>> Franklin and Summit’s defenses controlled things in the middle game of the afternoon, as the Lady Admirals held on for a 13-6 victory.

Franklin used the option to great effect, leading 7-0 lead at the half on a Jessie Desantis 15-yard run and a Charlotte Robertson extra point catch. The Spartans drew within one at 7-6 with 12:40 remaining when DeeDee May connected on a short drag pattern with Trinati Harrison, who sped to the corner of the endzone to get Summit on the board.

The rally was short-lived as the Admirals went on the attack, changing to an option pass offense that put the Spartans back on their heels. The drive finished with a short slant pass from Hannah Harvey to Robertson from five yards out for the final points of the contest.

“Overall, they were playing well. We had to make some adjustments; they were playing well,” Summit coach Tae Martin said. “It’s a 40-minute game. Just keep fighting. We have some fighters on this team. They run the option the best I’ve seen. We did a better job of taking the option away, but then they started releasing the center and we had to adjust to that.”

Summit earns second win

Two big plays were all it took to push Summit ahead of Brentwood for a 13-6 win in Sunday’s opening matchup.

Neither team could score until four minutes into the second half when Brentwood put together a drive that ended with Rylan Harris taking the option pitch untouched around right end.

Two drives later, May rolled left and hit a trailing Emma Bradford on the drag route. The speedy running back then took it 71 yards for the score. Trinati Harrison’s extra point catch put Summit up 7-6 with less than six minutes to go.

Bradford said once she made the catch it was a matter of “not looking back.”

A Cydney Wright interception late in the game set up Natalie Westmeier’s 20-yard scamper for the final tally.

Martin thinks that his team has played well but has just come up short in a couple of situations.

“We had a rough start,” Martin said. “We used that as motivation all week. We wanted to get that bad taste of losing (the second game last week) out of our mouth. Despite our record, I, and the other coaches, still think we are one of the better teams in this league.”