Two weeks, two wins for FHS Football.

After graduating over 20 seniors, including 6 Hockomock League all-stars and a league MVP, the Panthers faced much speculation that they’d be able to repeat the success they had a year ago. Franklin earned a 10-1 record, boasting an undefeated season until a playoff matchup with Springfield Central. The eventual D1 champs beat Franklin in the state semi-finals, 60-49.

Through the first two weeks of the season, the Panthers have silenced all the questions.  Their 2022 Campaign is off to a 2-0 record, with impressive wins at Wachusett Regional and, most recently, a 37-6 Win vs. Brockton.

Against the Boxers in their home opener, Franklin seemed to play the game on their terms, putting up 27 points before halftime and holding a shutout until late into the 4th Quarter.

To get the Player’s Perspective on how Franklin was able to play such a dominant game amid so much roster turnover, I caught up with FHS Football Sr. Captain Jase Lyons:

Ryan Martin: This offense came into the home opener after putting up 32 points against Wachusett last week, the big story of the game being a hat trick of touchdowns from Luke Davis. We saw Davis get involved offensively against Brockton, but a couple more pieces on offense shined as well. Derek Dubriske followed up a TD against Wachusett with some big catches against Brockton, Grayson Hunter found the end zone for the first time this season, etc. How important will having such a versatile offense be to Franklin’s long-term success this season? 

Jase Lyons: It helps to be able to do so many things on offense. Our game plans going into each week are scripted in a way to be able to get the ball downfield in different ways. Whether that means just running the ball or passing to any of the athletic receivers.

RM: The first drive of the game, Brockton plays good defense off the bat, you guys end up punting on your first possession; a couple of drives switch hands, and the back and forth first quarter ends in a scoreless tie. Take me to the mindset after that first drive and the first quarter as a whole. At that point in the game, did you guys think you had it in you to be up 4 scores by halftime?

JL:  Yeah it was definitely a shaky start, and it is always hard to bounce back from a tough start but we knew we would get it together and start figuring things out. While doing that we knew the defense would continue holding them, doing their thing, and then we picked it up on offense and things worked out for us.

RM: When you faced these guys a year ago, the ground game shined. Mack had over 280 yards and 3 scores. This year, it was more of the same as you took matters into your own hands, rushing for three TDs. How were you able to have similar success running the ball against Brockton? What did you see from their defense?

JL: Well, 2 of the plays I ran in were designed pass plays. But, once I scrambled out of the pocket, I kept seeing an opening for me to take it in myself, and sometimes that’s the way pass plays work. I am happy it did work like that.

The road won’t get any easier for Franklin as they find themselves hosting the Duxbury Dragons tonight at 7 PM. The Dragons come to Pisini Stadium with a 2-0 record, including a 44-22 win last Friday. The Panthers will look to get the hot start by Duxbury in front of their home fans, who are advised to wear yellow tonight to support Childhood Cancer Awareness.