varsity.roanoke.com

Jeanna Duerscherl | The Roanoke Times

Franklin County's Dominic Novia (right) chases William Fleming's Brian Taylor on Saturday afternoon.

Undefeated Western Valley District rivals Franklin County and William Fleming both traveled to play their Saturday afternoon football game at Patriot Stadium.

Fleming's eight-mile crosstown commute apparently was less draining than the Eagles' 28-mile bus trip. The Colonels rolled to a 31-point third-quarter lead and defeated Franklin County, 37-15.

Behind the arm of senior quarterback Derek Brown (8-of-13 passing for 139 yards and three TDs), the legs of senior running back LaCalvin Hickman (16 carries for 122 yards, a 7.6 average, and two TDs) and the defensive prowess of junior safety Brian Taylor (two interceptions and a fumble recovery in the first half alone), Fleming (3-0) dominated.

All of Franklin County's points came in the last five minutes.

"Defensively, we got a shutout," Fleming coach Rob Senseney said.

"But our special teams stunk it up at the end -- on a couple of plays in particular -- and in a close game, those kinds of plays are going to cost you."

The Eagles were outgained 355-131 in total offense, but converted fourth-quarter Colonel miscues into points. First, Eagle Jamal Spencer scooped up sophomore Devin Richardson's fumble on a punt return near his own goal line and returned the ball nine yards for a TD with 4:47 left in the game.

Fleming came right back and scored in just two plays from scrimmage -- junior Devin Dean scampering 49 yards for the score -- but then allowed Justin Seay to return the ensuing kickoff 89 yards untouched for Franklin County's second TD. The teams had combined to score 21 points in a 62-second span.

Errors in judgment and execution were common on both sides of the ball, but Franklin County made more of them.

"We gave the game away with our mistakes," said third-year Franklin County coach Ben Boyd. "We got ourselves in too big of a hole. We've got some young puppies out there that are still learning. We teach them what to do in practice, but now they've got to learn to perform in games. We fought to the end, though. I've got to give them that."

Boyd was particularly concerned with his team's first-half turnovers.

Fleming's Taylor recovered running back Robbie Betterton's fumble at midfield midway through the opening period. In the second period, Taylor intercepted Aaron Corn at the Fleming 29 and just a few minutes later, he picked off another errant Corn pass in the end zone.

But the Eagles' most devastating turnover was yet to come.

The Colonels held a 12-0 lead late in the first half when Franklin County mounted a drive that could have pulled the Eagles within a touchdown. But senior Shaquan Manning forced FC's fourth first-half turnover, picking off Corn at midfield and returning the ball to the Eagle 2. On the next play, Brown found fullback Jesse Jenkins for a short scoring pass.

In addition to Fleming's special team lapses late in the game, another area of concern to Senseney was his team's penalties. The Colonels were flagged 12 times for 92 yards.

Franklin County's first two games have been played in the afternoon, where heat and humidity were factors. Eagle defenders could be observed bending over with their hands on their knees frequently, particularly when Fleming mounted its sustained scoring drives in the third quarter.

Franklin County 0 0 0 15--15

William Fleming 6 12 13 6--37

WF -- Hickman 27 run (kick blocked)

WF -- Johnson 37 pass from D. Brown (kick blocked)

WF -- Jenkins 2 pass from D. Brown (pass failed)

WF -- Manning 27 pass from D. Brown (kick failed)

WF -- Hickman 29 run (Saliou kick)

FC -- Spencer 9 fumble return (Rorrer kick)

WF -- Dean 49 run (kick failed)

FC -- Seay 89 kickoff return (Seay run)

FR WF

First downs 7 15

Yards rushing 26-36 37-216

Passes C-A-I 11-22-3 8-13-0

Yards passing 95 139

Penalties-yards 3-15 12-92

Fumbles-lost 1-1 1-1

Punts-average 5-35.8 6-32.8

Individual statistics

RUSHING -- Franklin County, Seay 12-58, Spencer 2-6, Betterton 2-4, Gilbert 3-2, Basham 1-(minus-3), Corn 6-(minus-31). William Fleming, Hickman 16-122, Dean 5-42, D. Brown 10-38, Richardson 4-7, D. Hardy 2-7.

PASSING -- Franklin County, Corn 11-22-3-95. William Fleming, D. Brown 8-13-0-139.

RECEIVING -- Franklin County, Novia 4-55, Basham 3-14, Betterton 2-6, Alexander 1-15, Seay 1-5. William Fleming, Johnson 4-65, Dean 1-39, Manning 1-27, Redd 1-6, Jenkins 1-2.