FOOTBALL: Panthers take state runner-up Franklin almost to the wire

Panthers’ junior Cullen Ketterhagen makes a dash towards the end zone, which dismayed members of the Franklin sideline, Friday night at Bucci Field (Earlene Frederick/The Report).

Wilmot comes up short in Friday’s loss

By Jason Arndt
Editor

Up against the No. 2 ranked team in the state, there was little margin of error for the undersized, but resilient Wilmot Union High School football squad Friday at Bucci Field.

The margin of error against Franklin, last year’s Division 1 state runner-up, was so slim it came down to a decision of whether to go for a two-point conversion with 19 seconds left or kick an extra point to force overtime.

Led by Panthers’ senior quarterback A.J. Frisby, who pushed in a 3-yard touchdown run to pull the contest within one point in favor of Franklin, Wilmot opted to go for a two-point conversion.

Although the Panthers came up short, therefore, dropping a 14-13 verdict to Franklin, they clawed their way back from a 14-0 deficit entering the fourth quarter.

Frisby, who completed 17 of 28 passes for 281 yards, bounced back from a challenging first half where he threw two of his three interceptions.

Both interceptions were in the red zone.

According to coach Keiya Square, he believed Frisby loosened up after halftime, noting the Sabers challenged him to throw the ball in the first half.

“They were kind of rushing him through his reads, but I think in the second half, he just went out there and had a little bit of fun,” said Square, whose team starts the season 0-2.

Meanwhile, for Franklin coach Louis Brown, the Sabers planned to shut down the Panthers’ option attack and held Wilmot to 51 yards total rushing yards.

Brown, however, did not prepare for the agile Frisby inside and outside the pocket.

“Their quarterback, Frisby, did a heck of a job. We shut down their option attack pretty well but they went into Plan B, and Frisby turned it into a backyard football game,” Brown said.

“He is pretty darn good when he rolls around and makes guys miss. He is a big and tall kid, we got a little tired there at the end.”

Missed opportunities
In the opening half, the Panthers had a scoring chance in the first and second quarters, but could not capitalize in the red zone.

With 8:52 left in the first quarter and the Panthers in possession on their own 30-yard line, they produced a drive lasting more than five minutes, taking the ball 54 yards downfield to the Franklin 8-yard line.

The Panthers, however, saw a heavy Franklin pass rush, which forced Frisby into an interception to Sabers’ senior Alek Riestra in the end zone.

In the ensuing possession, Franklin ran the clock down, and opened the second quarter with a 22-yard touchdown run by senior quarterback Max Alba to give the Sabers a 7-0 edge.

Alba completed 8 of 17 passes for 92 yards.

Midway through the second quarter, with the Sabers driving downfield to the Panthers’ 25-yard line, Alba threw an interception to junior Tanner Peterson, who scampered down the left sideline for 53 yards.

Following a series a short yardage runs, the Panthers were on the 7-yard line, but could not capitalize after Franklin rushed Frisby into his second interception.

Frisby regains composure
After halftime, the Panthers came out rejuvenated, according to Frisby.

“We knew going into halftime that we were still in this game, we were down 7-0,” said Frisby. “Then we came out in the second half fired up, thinking we could come out and compete and win this game.”

In spite of a Franklin 3-yard touchdown run by Brad Tobin midway through the third quarter, the Panthers felt a momentum shift in the final frame, sparked by junior wide receiver Cullen Ketterhagen.

With 5:01 left of regulation and the Panthers at their own 30-yard line, Frisby rolled to his right, where he connected with Ketterhagen near midfield.

Ketterhagen, who pivoted, saw a nearly open field and scampered for a 70-yard score to pull the contest at 14-7.

“That was probably the fastest I ever ran,” said Ketterhagen.

Ketterhagen finished with five catches for a team-leading 113 yards.

Square, who coaches Ketterhagen in track, knew his wide receiver would come through.

“Cullen is a tough kid, I have him in track, he went to state in hurdles and he has been on the stage before,” Square said. “He just goes out there and plays.”

“He really picked it up for us tonight, helped us out, got us that huge score and got us our momentum back,” said Frisby.

With less than a minute left, the Panthers regained possession at the Franklin 44-yard line, where Frisby completed a 41-yard pass to junior Kade Carlson.

At 19 seconds, Frisby scrambled to his left for a 3-yard touchdown to trim the Franklin to 14-13.

The Panthers, who called a timeout, decided to attempt a 2-point conversion to give them the lead and avoid overtime.

Wilmot, which faced the Sabers pressure, could not convert.

Square cited momentum as the central reason for the decision.

“It had a lot to do with the momentum, we thought we would have a play where somebody would be open,” Square said. “We just probably thought it was best for us, and our kids wanted to go for it.”

“We came up short, one play away, three yards away, it is football,” Frisby said.

Wilmot committed 11 penalties for 77 yards while the Sabers had six for 44 yards.

Square attributes mental miscues for the excessive penalties.

“A lot of them were just small little mental mistakes, not getting lined up correctly, these are things that we can clean up,” Square said.

Tobin had 15 carries for 65 yards to lead the Sabers’ rushing.

Panthers’ senior Robert Brent rushed for 58 yards on 13 carries.


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