Tue Feb 09 2010
WARSAW – The final score read 30-7, but for a 15-minute stretch that didn’t end until late in the third quarter, Frankfort High actually trailed Gallatin County 7-6.
A string of first-half errors on offense forced the Panthers to kick it up a notch in the second half on a cold, damp night in northern Kentucky.
FHS finally came through with a minute left in the third quarter on a 25-yard halfback pass to the quarterback for a touchdown to regain the lead 12-7.
In the fourth quarter, the Panthers (6-2, 3-0) held the Wildcats without a first down on their first three possessions and used favorable field position to break the game open with three touchdowns in the final two and a half minutes of the game.
It wasn’t the complete performance FHS Craig Foley was hoping to see from his team, but it was another district win.
“The score is very deceiving, but our defense has been playing well all year long,” Foley said.
“As much of an experienced team as we are, we are still very immature. The kids have got to realize they can’t wait that long – they’ve got to step up and start playing in the first and second quarter like they did in the third and fourth quarter.”
The poor start began with a turnover on the first drive of the game after a bobbled snap. The defense, like it would for most of the game, held Gallatin County (3-5, 1-2) to a three-and-out, and two possessions later the Panthers were on the scoreboard.
After three straight rushes by Zach Mason, FHS took a 6-0 lead on a play-action pass from Dylan Quinn to Aaron Hall that spanned 44 yards. It was the lone highlight in the half for the offense as the Panthers turned it over three times.
One of those turnovers, another wayward snap, led directly to the Wildcats’ lone touchdown of the game.
Gallatin County turned the ball over on downs after its first substantial drive of the night, giving FHS the ball at its own 16. Quinn mishandled the snap on the next play, however, and the Wildcats recovered the ball, scoring with 3:52 in the second quarter on a one-yard rush by Shaughn Williamson.
The extra point gave GCHS a 7-6 edge that stood at the intermission.
“In the first half, I think we might have underestimated them a little bit,” said Kaleb Leach, who helped ice the game with a 39-yard interception return for a touchdown in the fourth quarter. “We came out flat.
“Our coach pretty much left it up to us, and we came together as a team after halftime.”
The Panthers began the second half aggressively with an onside kick. The Wildcats recovered the ball, but the kick set the tone for FHS the rest of the game.
Mason, Leach and Jeff Dunmire found more success running the ball on the Panthers’ opening drive of the third quarter, taking nine straight handoffs 50 yards to the GCHS 15.
“Our senior linemen stepped up and they started making the holes better,” Leach said. “They got on the running backs really hard to start hitting the holes, start breaking for big runs.”
The drive ended with an interception inside the Wildcat 10, but Ethan Williams gave Frankfort High a short field to work with when he came up with a pick a few plays later.
“I just read the tight end,” Williams said.
“He ran a post and I dropped out on him and just jumped in front of the ball.”
From the GCHS 29, the Panthers moved the ball to the 15 on runs by Mason and Dunmire. A pitch to Dunmire ended with a 10-yard loss, however, setting up third-and-17 from GCHS 25-yard line.
That’s when the Panthers reached into their bag of tricks.
With Georan Cardwell in the backfield, Quinn took the snap, pitched to Cardwell and rolled out in the flat. Cardwell hit Quinn in stride 10 yards downfield and the quarterback took it into the end zone for the go-ahead score.
“It wasn’t even meant to go back to the quarterback,” Foley said. “It was supposed to be to one of the backs downfield, but in practice the other day they threw it and completed it. Dylan did a good job of rolling out, and Georan kept his eyes open and hit him.”
The Panther defense maintained its form in the final quarter. For the game, Gallatin County was held to five first downs.
Two clock-eating drives by FHS, one of them culminating in a 15-yard touchdown run by Mason, gave Frankfort High an 18-7 edge with 2:31 left in the game.
A 14-yard sack by Evan Wright on fourth down gave the offense another short field on the next possession, leading to a Jeff Dunmire touchdown a minute and a half later.
Leach scored the only defensive touchdown of the game with just under a minute to play.
“It’s one of those wins like last week where we’re happy to get the win and get out of here,” Foley said.
“There’s nothing fancy about it, nothing nice about it. Film on Monday will be ugly. The kids will see what they didn’t do. It will just be one of those types of things.”
The Panthers wrap up district play at home this Friday against Trimble County (3-5, 1-2).
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