Tuscola and Franklin are an even 3-3 against one another since November of 2014, but not for long. The Tuscola Mountaineers will be playing at home against the Franklin Panthers at 7:30 p.m. on Friday. Both teams are coming into the game red-hot, with Tuscola sitting on three straight wins and Franklin on four.
Tuscola is headed in fresh off scoring the most points they have all season. They took their contest on the road two weeks ago with ease, bagging a 42-8 victory over Swain County. The team's explosion on offense also rewarded the Mountaineers with their most commanding win of the season.
Among those leading the charge was Jett Bartley, who threw for 173 yards and three touchdowns.
While Franklin didn't have the best season last year (they finished 2-8), it's starting to look like those struggles are a thing of the past. They breezed by East Henderson on the road to the tune of 48-8 on Friday. Fans of the Panthers have seen this all before: every one of the games they've played this season has ended in a blowout of 20+ points.
Franklin's defense was in the mix too, especially the secondary: they snagged four passes before it was all said and done. It was truly a group effort as Payton King, Addix Sutton, Aiden Pitts, and Pitts picked up one apiece. Braydon Hervey also set a new season high mark in rushing touchdowns with four.
Tuscola's win bumped their record up to 3-1. As for Franklin, their victory bumped their record up to 4-0.
Tuscola lost to Franklin at home by a decisive 31-14 margin in their previous matchup back in September of 2023. A big factor in that loss was the dominant performance of Sutton, who rushed for 186 yards and a touchdown, and also picked up 64 receiving yards and a touchdown. Now that Tuscola knows the damage he can cause, will they be able to stop him this time? Check MaxPreps.com after the match to find out.
Article generated by infoSentience based on data entered on MaxPreps
