Franklinton plays its regular season finale tonight on the road against Pearl River in District 8-4A play.
Franklinton enters this week with a 2-7 overall record and an 0-2 record in district. The Demons are the No. 30 team in the unofficial LHSAA Class 4A power rankings.
“If we win, we’re in. The kids are tired of losing. I’m tired of losing. You want success,” Franklinton coach Stephen Burris said. “We want that feeling of winning. We’re still working hard to get better each and every day. That’s about all you can do.”
Franklinton has lost its last six games, which includes a 28-8 setback to Salmen last week.
Tahj Magee leads the Demons in passing and rushing. He has thrown for 1,157 yards with 11 touchdowns and eight interceptions. He has run for 933 yards and 10 scores.
TreQuan Charles has run for 625 yards and five touchdowns.
Rakerian Conerly tops the ream in receiving with 38 catches for 548 yards and six touchdowns.
Lagarian Bell has 37 catches for 398 yards and three scores.
Defensively, Burris said the team played well. He said that Salmen scored twice at the beginning of the game, while the Demons created five turnovers and scored a safety.
The five turnovers were fumble recoveries. LaMount Harris recovered two and James Bickham, Rondrick King and Kian Conerly all recovered one.
Harris leads the club with 98 tackles and 9.5 of those are for a loss.
Pearl River had to forfeit last year’s game, which was recorded as a 2-0 win for Franklinton.
Pearl River enters tonight’s game with a 4-4 overall record and an 0-2 mark in district. Pearl River lost to Lakeshore, 47-20, last week. The team is 26th in the unofficial LHSAA Class 4A power rankings.
“We’re a young football team especially up front,” Pearl River coach Boomer Danford said. “It seems like every injury we’ve had has been on the offensive or defensive line where we’re weakest. We’re freshman- and sophomore-heavy in the starting positions.”
Danford is in his first year as Pearl River’s head coach and third year with the team.
Quarterback Justin Dean completed 7-of-12 passes for 117 yards and ran for two touchdowns last week.
Danford said running back Courtney Moore averages about 100 yards per game. Danford said running back Corey Warren is at about 65-70 yards per game.
The coach said Ethan Martennson had 98 total yards between rushing and receiving.
Martennson and Charbonnett will also run and catch passes at times.
The rest of the receiving group includes Matt Charbonnet and K.J. O’Neal.
The top defenders are strong safety Matt Elsesean, linebacker Roy Smith and defensive back Zach Unsery.
Those are the top three defenders on the line, at linebacker and at defensive back. Smith, who is a freshman, is the team’s leading tackler.