Sunday, November 15, 2009
Franklin County wins on late FG
varsity.roanoke.com
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BEALETON, Va. --This one will be remembered a long time at Franklin County High School.
Those who were at Liberty High on Saturday will recall the miraculous catch by junior wide receiver Thad Basham on the game-winning drive.
They'll think about the forceful effort from senior running back Tae Gilbert, who amassed 251 total yards and four touchdowns.
And probably most of all, they'll remember the 33-yard field goal that senior kicker Colby Boone nailed with .8 of a second remaining to give Franklin County a heart-stopping 37-35 victory over Colonial Forge in the first round of the Northwest Region Division 6 playoffs.
It was just the second attempt and the first made field goal of the season for Boone, who had missed two extra points prior to his game-winner.
"I said 'I'm not going home thinking it was my fault we lost,' " Boone said. "If it was 50 yards, I had to make it."
Boone's heroics helped sixth-seeded Franklin County (92) win a playoff game for the first time in school history and set up a visit to top-seed Battlefield (100) Friday in the region semifinals.
But Boone wouldn't have been in position to win the game if not for Gilbert and Basham.
Gilbert rushed for 210 yards and three touchdowns on 22 carries, while hauling in two passes for 41 yards and a score.
Basham left Colonial Forge (9-2) staring in disbelief when he hauled in a leaping 33-yard catch over multiple defenders on a fourth-and-14 play with 1:36 left in the game.
"I can't describe it. It was a crazy catch," Basham said. "Coach always tells me, 'Catch it at its highest point.' I knew it was either get it or nothing."
The catch set Franklin County up at the Colonial Forge 12-yard line. Two Gilbert runs put Franklin County on Colonial Forge's 5, but quarterback T.J. Shaw scampered backward for an 11-yard loss to the 16.
Franklin County didn't have a timeout remaining, but it refused to panic as the clock ticked down and players rushed onto the field.
Colonial Forge head coach Bill Brown thought Franklin County should've been penalized for having too many players in its huddle before the field-goal attempt.
"There were exactly 13 players standing by the football," Brown said. "At the last second, two of them ran off."
But there was no flag and Franklin County celebrated after Colonial Forge's Drew Wilson fumbled the ensuing kickoff.
The scene seemed unlikely early in the second quarter when Colonial Forge led 216.
But after Shaw found Shane Preston for a 33-yard touchdown pass, Gilbert came through with an 83-yard run in which he broke several tackles in the backfield before running free and tying the game at 21 with 2:39 left in the first half.
Franklin County 6 15 13 3--37
Colonial Forge 7 21 7 0--35
CF -- Scott 66 run (Eastman kick)
FC -- Gilbert 25 run (kick failed)
CF -- B. Frohnapfel 1 run (Eastman kick)
CF -- Bartosch 24 pass from B. Frohnapfel (Eastman kick)
FC -- Preston 33 pass from Shaw (Gilbert pass from Shaw)
FC -- Gilbert 83 run (Boone kick).
CF -- E. Frohnapfel 39 pass from B. Frohnapfel (Eastman kick)
FC -- Gilbert 44 pass from Shaw (Boone kick)
FC -- Gilbert 1 run (kick failed)
CF -- B. Frohnapfel 1 run (Eastman kick)
FC -- FG Boone 33
FC CF
First downs 14 16
Yards rushing 243 305
Passes C-A-I 7-13-2 5-12-1
Yards passing 156 156
Penalties-yards 6-55 5-58
Fumbles-lost 1-0 4-1
Punts-average 3-39 3-27
Individual statistics
RUSHING -- Colonial Forge, Scott 6-132, Wilson 16-109, McCleave 2-22, Reed 8-19, B. Frohnapfel 7-19, Cundiff 1-6, Driver 1-(minus-2). Franklin County, Gilbert 22-210, Spencer 11-35, Preston 2-21, Shaw 3-(minus-23).
PASSING -- Colonial Forge, B. Frohnapfel 5-12-1-156. Franklin County, Shaw 7-13-2-156.
RECEIVING -- Colonial Forge, E. Frohnapfel 3-126, Bartosch 1-24, McCleave 1-6. Franklin County, Basham 4-82, Gilbert 2-41, Preston 1-33.
