Bulldogs punch ticket into post-season, down 7-3A foe Wilkinson County by 26-6 margin

To view more than 140 pictures from the Franklin County vs. Wilkinson County football game, click on this link: https://www.dotphoto.com/go.asp?l=franklinadvocate&AID=6844334&T=1

WOODVILLE — Franklin County's district dry spell came to an end on Friday, Oct. 21 as the Bulldogs downed 7-3A foe Wilkinson County, 26-6, in the regional gridiron finale for the visiting team and punched FC's ticket to the football post-season in two weeks.

With the win, the Dawgs saw their season record improve to 5-4 overall while finishing 1-3 in district play — and will most likely be a No. 4 seed when the Class 3A playoffs begin during the first week of November.

"We won and that puts us in the playoffs — something we haven't missed being part of for a while," FCHS Head Football Coach B.J. Smithhart said following the game. "We've got one more regular season game that we need to take care of against Bogue Chitto and hope we can end the regular season on a positive note."

Smithhart said he felt like his Bulldogs played "pretty good" at times in getting out of the game with a win and no injuries as has been seen in the past two weeks. "We did what we needed to do against Wilkinson County, which was a big, physical bunch and got the win we needed," he continued.

The Bulldogs picked up 195 rushing yards against the Wildcats with 140 of those coming from Keyundre Felton on a total of 13 carries in the contest. He also scored twice in the affair — on a seven-yard scamper in the first quarter and a 52-yard explosion in the final frame.

Also having solid nights running the football were Tyrese O'Neal, who had 43 yards on seven totes, and Jailon Brown rushed eight times for 18 yards.

In the passing department, FC's Quez Rancifer went 4-9-2 for 46 yards with a 12-yard touchdown strike to Reshon Baker. Rancifer also connected with Jaquez Anderson twice for 21 yards and with Felton once for three yards.

The contest proved to be another penalty laden affair with the Bulldogs flagged for a season-record 16 penalties for 136 yards while Wilkinson County had 12 infractions for 89 yards.

In getting on the scoreboard early and setting the early tempo of the game, FC made the most of its big-play opportunities as Bulldogs' defender Tyson Windom recovered a fumble on the opening kickoff to give the visiting team possession of the football near the Wilkinson County 27 yard line.

From there, O'Neal and Felton carried the ball as deep as the 15 on the initial plays of the drive before a Rancifer pass fell incomplete. Facing second and 10, Felton another handoff and moved the ball to the 7 before being pulled down by the Wildcats' defense.

Rancifer put the ball into Felton's hands one more time and he carried it into the end zone with 9:52 remaining in the first quarter.

Rancifer attempted a post-touchdown, two-point conversion pass to Baker, but the effort was ruled incomplete and Franklin County moved out to a 6-0 advantage in the game.

The teams traded possessions twice through the remainder of the initial frame before the Dawgs went back to work with 2:23 showing on the clock at the Wilkinson County 47.

Brown had back-to-back carries for seven yards and O'Neal added two more on the ground to put Franklin County in a fourth-and-one situation near the Wildcats' 38 yard line. Rancifer dropped into the pocket and hit Anderson in stride for an 11-yard gain.

With a new set of downs at the 27, FC's O'Neal had one of his biggest ground gains of the night — a 22 yard pick-up — with a half-the-distance penalty against Wilkinson County at the end of the play to set up a first and goal from the 2.

O'Neal then punched the ball in for the score with 11:29 remaining in the first half. Another Rancifer two-point conversion pass fell incomplete, but the Bulldogs had opened a 12-0 bulge that would hold through intermission.

Franklin County mustered a better-than-eight-minute, 13-play drive to start the third quarter and was capped when Rancifer connected with Baker on a 12-yard strike with 3:39 left to play in the frame. Rancifer and Baker connected again through the air on the two-point conversion pass for a 20-0 Bulldogs' lead.

Wilkinson County put a cosmetic touchdown on the scoreboard with an almost three-and-a-half minute drive to end the quarter with a 15-yard touchdown pass with no time showing on the clock. The Wildcats' two-point conversion pass try was batted away by FC defender Jaiden Hunt.

Leading 20-6, FC added some insurance within the first two minutes of the fourth quarter on a four-play series that saw Felton take the handoff and scamper 52 yards for a touchdown with 10:02 left in the contest. Rancifer's two-point conversion pass fell incomplete, but the final margin of the game had been set at 26-6.

The programs traded interceptions late with Baker picking off a Wilkinson County pass with 5:24 left in the fourth quarter and then FC quarterback Detrick Starks having a pass picked off by the Wildcats less than three minutes later.

Wilkinson County had one final drive in the game and got as deep as the Bulldogs' 6 before the series fell apart on a personal foul penalty and several incomplete pass attempts into the end zone.

FC took a knee with 33.9 ticks left on the clock to end the contest.

Defensively for Franklin County, Larry Pernell had another strong finish thanks to a team-high four tackles and a fumble recovery while Hunt also recorded four tackles for the Bulldogs. O'Neal wound up with three tackles while Peyton Touchstone, Remontae Cameron and Ja Norman accounted for two take-downs each.

Touchstone, Cameron, Felton, Jay Malone and Kameron White each had a sack against the Wildcats.

FC is slated to return to action on Thursday, Oct. 27 in its regular season, non-district finale on the road at Bogue Chitto. The contest had originally been scheduled for Friday, but was moved up a day earlier by mutual agreement between the two teams.

SCORE BY QUARTER

FCHS 6 6 8 6 — 26

WCHS 0 0 6 0 — 6

SCORING SUMMARY

FIRST QUARTER

FCHS — 9:52, Keyundre Felton 7-yard touchdown run. Two-point conversion pass fails.

SECOND QUARTER

FCHS — 11:29, Tyrese O'Neal 2-yard touchdown run. Two-point conversion pass fails.

THIRD QUARTER

FCHS — 3:39, Quez Rancifer to Reshon Baker 12-yard touchdown pass. Rancifer to Baker 2-point conversion pass.

WCHS — 0:00, 15-yard touchdown pass. Two-point conversion pass fails.

FOURTH QUARTER

FCHS — 10:02, Felton 52-yard touchdown run. Two-point conversion pass fails.

TEAM STATISTICS

FIRST DOWNS — FCHS 10; WCHS 9

RUSHES-YARDS — FCHS 32-195; WCHS 20-31

PASSES — FCHS 5-10-3; WCHS 6-25-2

YARDS — FCHS 46; WCHS 75

PENALTIES-YARDS — FCHS 16-136; WCHS 12-89

FUMBLES-LOST — FCHS 0-0; WCHS 3-2

PUNTS-AVERAGE — FCHS 2-39.0; WCHS 3-23.0

THIRD DOWNS-CONVERSIONS — FCHS 3-of-8; WCHS 1-of-9

FOURTH DOWNS-CONVERSIONS — FCHS 3-of-3; WCHS 0-of-2

INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS

RUSHING — Keyundre Felton, 13-140; Tyrese O'Neal, 7-43; Jailon Brown, 8-18; Quez Rancifer, 4-(-6).

PASSING — Quez Rancifer 4-9-2, 46 yards; Detrick Starks, 0-1-1, 0 yards.

RECEIVING — Jaquez Anderson, 2-21; Reshon Baker, 1-12; Keyundre Felton, 1-3.

TACKLES — Larry Pernell, 4; Jaiden Hunt, 4; Tyrese O'Neal, 3; Peyton Touchstone, 2; Remontae Cameron, 2; Ja Norman, 2; Keyundre Felton, 1; Jay Malone, 1, Josh Smith, 1; Devin Coleman, 1; Zorian O'Quinn, 1; Quez Rancifer, 1; Johnathon Shell, 1; Jailon Brown, 1.

FUMBLE RECOVERIES — Larry Pernell, 1; Tyson Windom, 1.

INTERCEPTIONS — ReShon Baker, 1; Jaquez Anderson, 1.

SACKS — Peyton Touchstone, 1; Remontae Cameron, 1; Keyundre Felton, 1; Jay Malone, 1; Kameron White, 1.

Statistics by Trey Hill, Mark Davis and Sean Dunlap