The Franklin Cougars are taking a road trip to square off against the Montwood Rams at 7:30 p.m. on Friday. The teams are on pretty different trajectories at the moment (Franklin has three straight victories, Montwood has six straight defeats), but none of that matters once you're on the field.
Franklin barely beat Coronado the last time the pair played, but that sure wasn't the case this time around. The Cougars blew past the Thunderbirds, posting a 59-7 win. Given the Cougars' advantage in MaxPreps' Texas football rankings (they are ranked 230th, while the Thunderbirds are ranked 655th) , the win on Thursday wasn't entirely unexpected.
Ernie Powers produced another solid effort rushing for 388 yards and seven touchdowns while picking up 15.5 yards per carry. He was no stranger to the big play, turning on the jets for a run that went for 59 yards. The team also got some help courtesy of Atreyu De La Riva, who gained 78 total yards and a touchdown.
Wins are hard to come by when you can't run the rock, something Franklin proved: they limited Coronado to a paltry 2.4 yards per carry. The team can thank Joseuberto (JB) Bodoni-Guzman for the heroic effort on defense: he. Franklin didn't have any issues in that department, having averaged 13.7.
Franklin's defense also made the game a nightmare for West Stansbury, racking up eight sacks. Coronado's QB won't forget Adonis Bustillos anytime soon given he sacked him four times.
Meanwhile, Montwood scored the most points they've had this season on Friday, but it wasn't enough. They took a 61-47 bruising from Eastlake. Despite running the score up even higher than they did in their prior game last Friday (35), the Rams still had to take the loss.
Franklin will have to contain Damian Briano as he made an impact in Montwood's last game. He threw for 478 yards and four TDs, and also rushed for 78 yards and a pair of scores. With that strong performance, Briano is now averaging an impressive 313.2 passing yards per game. Adrian Cortinas was in the mix too, providing Montwood with two touchdowns.
Franklin's record is now 4-1. As for Montwood, their loss dropped their record down to 0-5.
The upcoming contest will be a clash of competing strengths. Franklin has deployed a run-first offense that has averaged 409.6 rushing yards a game. Meanwhile, Montwood has preferred to attack from the air: they average 314 passing yards per game. So which strategy will prevail on Friday? There's only one way to find out.
Franklin came up short against Montwood when the teams last played back in October of 2024, falling 46-42. A big factor in that loss was the dominant performance of Briano, who threw for 345 yards and five TDs, and also rushed for 54 yards and a pair of scores. Now that the Cougars know the damage he can cause, will they be able to stop him this time? There's only one way to find out.
