It’s that time of year again, Friday Night Lights are back. Franklin Football is coming off one of their best if not their best seasons in 2021 making a run to the Final 4 in the playoffs. They were also able to capture the Kelley-Rex title after a come-back win on Thanksgiving against KP. Expectations will be high for this year’s team to try and match the success of last year but this team showed in their opener against Wachusset that they can make a deep playoff run.

Many questions surrounded this new-look offense that lost its starting QB, RB, top 3 Wideouts, and most of its offensive line. Sr. Jase Lyons will take the helm this year ready to lead this offense. Lyons will also be playing Safety again this year in a few of Franklin’s defensive packages. Lyons tossed 3 TDs and had an INT against Wachusett last Friday. Lyons showed his mobility at QB and proved he is a playmaker on the defensive side as well.

However, the main question that surrounded this offense is who would try and fill the shoes of Franklin’s superstar receivers from last year, Shane Kindred and Will Tracey. That question was figured out swiftly against Wachusset as Sr. Captain Luke Davis made play after play wrecking Wachusett’s defense. He would go on to finish the game with over 150+ yards and 3 TDs and quickly made himself known as the #1 threat on this offense.

Perhaps the player that went more under the radar through the preseason and in the game against Wachusett was Jr. wideout Derek Dubriske. He offered a great option for Lyons to go underneath and showed his great catch-and-run abilities on Friday night.

At RB Jr. Micheal Davide saw a lot of playing time on Friday night quickly becoming a workhouse for the offense. Similar to Mack Gulla, he is a very headfirst and downhill runner which will play into this offense’s game plan. He would ice the game with a late TD to give Franklin a 1-0 start to the season.

On the defensive side, much of the team has remained unchanged. Franklin retains their top corner in Sr. Devine Johnson and their top tackler in Sr. Captain Nick Quintina.

Johnson is regarded as one of the top cover corners in MA, where he plays a true pressman that seems to be gone in today’s game. At arguably the hardest position in Football having a lockdown corner in Johnson gives Franklin a lot of options to tinker with the defensive game plan with some more unique packages. Johnson had an interception in last Friday’s game which was considered to be what turned the tide in that game as the interception came at the goal-line.

If we move to the middle of the field Quintina will be controlling that part of the field. Quintina seems to be everywhere for Franklin on defense mainly specializing in his open-field tackling. He also has great speed and explosiveness to drop back into the coverage to help out the secondary. Quintina will have to take on a leadership role on the defensive side of the ball, but everybody is sure he is more than capable of that.

The pass-rush for Franklin also remains largely unchanged with Sr. Captain Emmet Lackey leading the group this year. A big, strong and explosive DE makes Lackey a problem for opposing offensive linemen. Although at the moment Franklin’s #2 pass rusher Jay Gulla is out with an injury, So. Julian Rampino has taken up the role and lined on the opposite side of Lackey to continue to disrupt offenses left and right.

Overall there is a lot to look forward to this year, and fans should get excited for another great year of football at Franklin.