Limiting Franklin to 16 yards of first-half offense and scoring on four straight possessions covering the second, third and fourth quarters, Bellbrook (2-0, 1-0) handled the Wildcats (1-1, 1-1) in stunning fashion on senior night at Miami Valley South Stadium in a key Week 2 Southwestern Buckeye League Southwestern Division contest. The defeat is Franklin’s second worst in SWBL play since joining the league in 2006. Only a 35-0 loss at Eaton on Oct. 15, 2010, ranks above Friday’s shocker.
“It’s been a long time since we experienced something like this,” Franklin head coach Brad Childers said. “I’m really disappointed for our kids and program.”
Five of the last six games between the two schools – which have combined for seven of the last nine divisional titles – had been decided by a touchdown or less. Last year Franklin won 21-14 in overtime.
No nail-biting this time.
Ahead 7-0 after the first quarter, Bellbrook parlayed back-to-back interceptions inside Franklin’s 40-yardline by senior Leo Freudenschuss and junior Gavyn Roop into touchdowns. Freudenschuss caught a seven-yard touchdown pass from senior quarterback Alex Westbrock, while senior Jonas Atchison plowed in from one-yard out for a 20-0 halftime lead.
Bellbrook capped its first possession of the second half – a 68-yard, nine play drive – with a three-yard Seth Borondy run. The Eagles finished their next drive – a 92-yard, 10-play jaunt – with a two-yard Borondy plunge that forced a running clock with 8:49 to play.
Offensively, Bellbrook outgained Franklin 353-73 in total yards.
The Wildcats, which were led by senior running back Cyre Williams, played two quarterbacks – junior Drew Isaacs (first half) and sophomore Tressel Gibson (second half).
“We just haven’t had the ability to get the ball going the last couple weeks,” Childers said. “We have to take a look and evaluate ourselves. We have some figuring out to do and some growing up to do.”
“We had a really good game plan,” said Atchison, who had four tackles-for-loss. “Our coaches drew up every thing (Franklin) could do out of their formations and we worked hard, studied and shut them down. We knew what was coming.”
A week after scoring three touchdowns in a 48-0 dismantling of Waynesville, Borondy added three more and 154 yards rushing on 23 carries. Atchison had 78 yards and a touchdown on 12 carries.
“We played a lot of young guys on offense and defense last year and those guys have grown up,” Jenkins said. “We felt very strong about these guys coming into the season and they’ve lived up to expectations thus far…They’re out for vengeance.”
Said Childers: “Congrats to Bellbrook. They were definitely the better team tonight.”
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