Franklinton began a great day from the first play of the game in defeating St. Paul’s School eight touchdowns to four in a 7-on-7 contest at home Wednesday morning.
“To be honest, we talk about playing up to our standard and the level of expectations we require from our kids. I thought early on, especially, we did a phenomenal job of that,” Franklinton coach Jonathan Barber said. “We had some energy about us. We talked in the past week about make sure we’re improving the way we need to be and it’s kind of that of the year where you’d like to see that passing game take off, and I think our passing game was really good.
“Jasper (LaSalle) made some really good throws, our receivers played well, and defensively, we made a couple of changes in the secondary, and they looked really good today.”
“We got our hands on a lot of balls, had several picks, but it was a solid performance all the way around by our team and I was proud of that. I thought we had a little lull at some point and I talked to them a little bit about it at the end just to make sure that we always keep that edge about us and play up to our standards regardless of the score, regardless of the opponent. I look for that to be something we do going forward.”
Avant Monnie was outstanding throughout.
He opened the day by picking off a pass on the first play of the game. It was his first of three interceptions and he defended several other passes.
“Boy, Avant was great today,” Barber said. “We tried him at free safety during the spring and he was a little uncomfortable to the different position. He played corner for us last year, so we made the move to put him back out at corner today, and man, he made phenomenal plays.
“He looked really good. He’s a lot more comfortable and a lot more confident at that position. I talked to him a little bit about it yesterday and we went ahead and made the change and it’s something it looks like we’re going to stick with.”
Receiver Kadarious Mark made one catch after another and tallied four touchdowns.
Barber said that Mark is very smooth in-and-out of breaks and catches the ball really well away from his body.
“He’s going to be a first-year starter for us, but I think the sky’s the limit for him. He’s a great kid and I look forward to a big season from him as well,” Barber said.
Barber also credited LaSalle’s play and the play of his linebackers.
LaSalle threw all eight touchdowns. Four went to Mark and Mike Martin each. LaSalle tossed a touchdown to Mark on the Demons’ first offensive play from scrimmage.
“Jasper threw the ball well. He’s making progress in his reads and that’s nice to see,” Barber said. “The other big thing I saw today was our linebackers getting proper drops. That’s something that takes a little bit of time because those guys are used to defending the run first-and-foremost, so during the summer, it gives you an opportunity to get some experience of seeing pass concepts and where your drops are supposed to be and what your reads are supposed to be.
“Today, to be honest, I thought that was probably the most impressive thing I saw was our linebacker group working together. Communication in the secondary I thought was great, so I was really pleased with that.”
St. Paul’s tied the game up 1-1 after LaSalle’s opening touchdown pass.
Franklinton scored the next three touchdowns on passes to Mark, Martin and Mark, respectively.
The Wolves tallied, but the Demons scored two straight, as LaSalle connected with Mark and then Martin.
St. Paul’s pulled within 6-3, but LaSalle found Martin for the next two touchdowns before the Wolves scored once more for the 8-4 final.