The Franklin County football team has its fair share of tweaked ankles, sore arms and bumps and bruises, but the Flyers are as healthy as anyone when it comes to their district record.

FCHS moved to 2-0 in the district Friday night - 4-3 overall - with a 43-14 win over Bourbon County (1-5, 0-2) at Benny Watkins Field.

The Flyers had a slow start in the first half, building a modest 14-0 lead by halftime against a team they destroyed last season 62-6.

"We have a lot of kids banged up," FCHS coach Dennis Ledford said. "We had a lot of kids that we just kept out of practice this week, trying to get them better. To be honest, they were still banged up tonight. We had a lot of kids playing hurt and when you miss practice and you're beat up a little bit it shows."

Last week against Pendleton County, quarterback Sean Thompson went down with leg injury. Though he returned to the game a short time later, he had a noticeable limp and limited movement in the pocket for the rest of the game.

Ledford said Thompson's ankle is fine but his limited reps in practice this week hurt his timing and it showed throughout the first half with several short touch passes that could have been completions for big gains or even touchdowns.

"We did not execute at all," senior DeRon Hicks said about his team's first half performance. "On offense or defense ... we did not execute. We (have been) waiting around until the second half and then trying to play."

The first score of the game came on a 37-yard pass to Damian Hicks from Thompson for a touchdown at the 8:58 mark. Bryce Burton's point-after was good to make it 7-0.

The second score came on a 10-yard pass completion from Thompson to Kevin Stiles and with the point-after it was 14-0 going into the half.

"It should have been 14-14 going into the half," Ledford said. "They had two touchdowns that were called back. We had calls against us too, but they were beating us in every stat category in the first half."

Bourbon County got on the board early in the third quarter. Dustin Purcell took off on the first play from scrimmage for 64 yards to the FCHS 10-yard line. Three plays later, he was called on again for a 3-yard touchdown run. The point-after by Jacob Hurst was good making the score 14-7 with 8:09 left in the third.

The Flyers answered quickly, marching down the field on two plays in 45 seconds. Jordan Moore rushed for 5 yards to the FCHS 46 and then Thompson found DeRon Hicks on the next play for a 54-yard touchdown pass. Burton made the score 21-7.

"We started to execute better," DeRon Hicks said about the Flyers in the second half. "Sean went through his reads better. We just didn't want to lose to Bourbon County so we came out ready to win."

It was pretty much all Franklin County from there on out. DeRon Hicks scored again for the Flyers on a 47-yard pass with 16 seconds left in the third quarter, and with the point-after the score was 28-7.

"DeRon went and made a couple of plays on his own," Ledford said. "A couple of those screens we threw to him weren't the greatest blocked and he just found a way to get into the end zone. We were able to run some reverses to get him out in space where he's so great. He sparked us when we needed it."

DeRon Hicks caught nine passes for 183 yards in the game and had two touchdowns.

With just under six minutes left in the game, Moore rushed for an 8-yard touchdown. The ensuing point-after turned into a two-point conversion when the holder, Stiles, got a bad snap and ran it in to make the score 36-7.

Bourbon County scored its last touchdown with 4:17 to play on a 15-yard pass from Duke Ferguson to Adam Lynch followed by the point-after to make it 36-14.

Thompson passed for his fifth touchdown of the night on a 33-yard toss to Mike Chenault with 2:13 on the clock. The point-after by Burton finished out the scoring, 43-14.

Thompson was 21-of-39 passing with 345 yards and two interceptions. DeRon Hicks was the team's leading rusher with three carries for 36 yards. Right behind him was Moore with nine carries for 28 yards and a touchdown.

Ledford told his team after the game that there were aspects of Bourbon County's team that he wanted the Flyers to think about. Most importantly, the fire of a team that has to work for everything it gets.

"I was here when we got this program turned around," Ledford said. "Sometimes you find yourself missing those days when your kids were hungry and they have never been successful.

"You see those little improvements that they make each week and how they fight through adversity. Sometimes after you've been successful you have to go back and look at those things and tell your team about them and use it as a (teaching tool)."

But the Flyers still feel like there are on track this season.

"I think we're right where we should be, but there's always room for improvement," DeRon Hicks said. "Even the best teams always have room for improvement. We're right where we should be and I think we'll make a good run in the playoffs."

The Flyers will stay at home this week to take on Class 5A Oldham County (4-2).

"They've been a good program and they're getting it back together," Ledford said. "They beat us last year up there at their place in a close game (21-19). They've beaten some big schools. Our kids are going to have to strap it up. They're physical and they have a great middle linebacker. We have our work cut out for us."