The Lions hadn’t won three in a row to start the season since 2020. A 44-0 win in Week Three against Banks County not only changed that, but also matched last year’s total win count. Banks County was breaking in new head coach Mark Hollars, as Todd Winter was fired during last week’s BYE.
A methodical drive for Franklin led to an Eli Cooling 40-yd field goal to give the Lions a 3-0 lead. Both teams milked the clock with lengthy drives. The Lions got a break when Carson Cheek punched through the defense on an end-around 28-yd TD with just over three minutes left in the half.
Franklin County got the ball back and marched back down the field, capping their drive with a 2-yd plunge by Harbin for a 17-0 lead and just 15 seconds on the clock.
Opening up the second half, the Lions stepped on the gas with a long drive that ended on a 10-yd TD run by DJ Appleby, pushing the advantage up to 24-0. Meanwhile, the Franklin defense loaded the box and stopped the Banks run game.
Jordan Ardister added a 19-yd TD in the closing seconds of the third, providing more insurance with a 31-0 lead. Things went from bad to worse for Banks, as moments later Appleby had a scoop-n-score, adding insult to injury with a 38-0 lead heading into the fourth.
Harbin reeled off a 19-yd TD midway through the final quarter, capping the scoring at 44-0. Harbin had two TD runs, Appleby had two total scores, and Ardister and Cheek each had one.
The Lions are 3-0 on the season, while the Leopards drop to 0-2.
