Franklin Regional clinches playoff berth behind Zac Gordon’s 228 yards, 3 TDs

By: Jason Black
Friday, October 11, 2019 | 10:12 PM

A couple of trends continued Friday night as Connellsville and Franklin Regional met in a homecoming game at Connellsville Stadium.

The Panthers continued their long streak of WPIAL playoff appearances thanks to a 35-7 Section 2-5A win, and the Falcons continued to be haunted by costly mistakes.

“We keep shooting ourselves in the foot,” Connellsville coach Marko Thomas said. “We fumbled (a first-quarter kickoff) instead of catching it and having the ball at the 50. It’s just those types of things that are self-inflicted.”

Franklin Regional (4-2, 3-1) took the ball first and scored on its opening possession when Colton Johns scored on a 1-yard run. Then the Panthers tried a short kick after their score. The reception was muffed by Connellsville and recovered by Franklin Regional. Five plays later, Trevor Brncic connected with Jeffrey Downs on a 7-yard touchdown strike.

The Panthers had a 14-0 lead before the Falcons offense touched the ball. Brncic completed 9 of 11 passes for 174 yards.

“We weren’t going to kick the ball deep to (Ahmad Hooper or Ky’ron Craggette),” Franklin Regional coach Greg Botta said. “Luckily, we were able to get it back.”

Trailing by 14, the Falcons finally got the ball and put together a nice drive, only to have it stall on a long missed field goal.

In the second quarter, Franklin Regional’s Zac Gordon started to take over. Gordon ran for touchdowns of 8 and 58 yards to help the Panthers take a 28-0 lead. Gordon finished with 28 carries for 228 yards and three touchdowns.

“We knew (Gordon) would get the ball, and we didn’t wrap him up,” Thomas said. “We just have to make the plays.”

Botta wanted to see Gordon deliver, and his running back came through in a big way.

“He had a good game,” Botta said. “I put a lot of pressure on him and challenged him to have a good game, and he was ready to go.”

Down by 28, the Falcons finally scored in the third quarter. Connellsville (1-7, 0-5) blocked a Franklin Regional field goal attempt and Craggette scooped up the ball and returned it into Franklin Regional territory. On the next play, Hooper took a reverse around the right side and raced untouched for a 40-yard score.

“It’s nice to win the third quarter, but I felt like we could have been in the whole game,” Thomas said.

Gordon finished the scoring with a 1-yard run in the fourth quarter. The score capped the victory and also clinched Franklin Regional’s 16th consecutive playoff appearance.

“I’m just proud of the players that I’ve had here, and it’s part of the culture. It’s not me,” Botta said. “The seniors said that they weren’t going to be the ones to let the streak come to an end.”

Connellsville will try to snap a seven-game slide when it plays at Gateway next week. Franklin Regional will look for its second straight win when it hosts McKeesport.

Tags: Connellsville, Franklin Regional