Franklin and Tuscola are an even 3-3 against one another since November of 2014, but not for long. The Franklin Panthers will challenge the Tuscola Mountaineers at 7:30 p.m. on Friday. Both are sauntering into the matchup backed by comfortable wins in their prior games.
Franklin is headed in fresh off scoring the most points they have all season. They simply couldn't be stopped on Friday as they easily beat East Henderson 48-8 on the road. Given the Panthers' advantage in MaxPreps' North Carolina football rankings (they are ranked 64th, while the Eagles are ranked 306th), the result wasn't entirely unexpected.
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.
Meanwhile, Tuscola had already won two in a row (a stretch where they outscored their opponents by an average of 14.5 points) and they went ahead and made it three last Friday. They blew past the Maroon Devils 42-8 on the road. The contest marked the Mountaineers' most dominant victory of the season so far.
Tuscola can attribute much of their success to Jett Bartley, who threw for 173 yards and three touchdowns.
The win for Franklin keeps them at an undefeated 4-0. As for Tuscola, their victory bumped their record up to 3-1.
Friday's matchup might be decided in the trenches. Franklin has been excellent on the ground this season, having averaged 151.8 rushing yards per game. It's a different story for Tuscola, though, as they've been averaging only 94. How will they fare against such a dominant running game?
Franklin strolled past Tuscola when the teams last played back in September of 2023 by a score of 31-14. The rematch might be a little tougher for Franklin since the team won't have the home-field advantage this time around. We'll see if the change in venue makes a difference.
Article generated by infoSentience based on data entered on MaxPreps
