The Franklin Regional Panthers are taking a road trip to square off against the Upper St. Clair Panthers at 7:00 p.m. on Friday. Keep an eye on the score for this one: the two teams posted some lofty point totals in their previous games.
Last Friday, Franklin Regional got the win against Hempfield Area by a conclusive 49-26. Given the Panthers' advantage in MaxPreps' Pennsylvania football rankings (they are ranked 62nd, while the Spartans are ranked 255th), the result wasn't entirely unexpected.
Kyle Dupill had an outrageously good game as he rushed for 115 yards and three touchdowns, and also picked up 33 receiving yards. Darwin Jones made the highlight reel by snagging an interception and taking it all the way to the house.
Franklin Regional wouldn't let Hempfield Area keep a hold of the ball as they managed to force two fumbles. Franklin Regional can thank Brent Hickey and Jones for forcing both of them. Jones didn't just play on offense: he also forced a fumble, made a tackle, and defended two passes in addition to snagging an interception which he returned one-yard for a touchdown.
Meanwhile, Upper St. Clair entered their tilt with Canon-McMillan on Friday with four consecutive wins dating back to last season but they'll enter their next game with five. They blew past the Big Macs 41-6 on the road.
Perhaps unsurprisingly given the score, Upper St. Clair was unstoppable on the ground and finished the game with 272 rushing yards. That strong performance was nothing new for the team: they've now rushed for at least 151 rushing yards in seven consecutive matchups dating back to last season.
On the defensive side of the ball, a lot of the credit has to go to Upper St. Clair's defense and their three sacks. In that department, Nate Stohl was the leader with two. He also put in work on the defensive side of the ball, picking up two sacks and making eight total tackles (2.0 for loss).
The victory made it two in a row for Franklin Regional and bumps their season record up to 2-0. As for Upper St. Clair, their record is now 2-0.
Franklin Regional couldn't quite finish off Upper St. Clair when the teams last played back in November of 2017 and fell 6-3. Can Franklin Regional avenge their loss or is history doomed to repeat itself? We'll find out soon enough.
Article generated by infoSentience based on data entered on MaxPreps
