Diesel Solari to Ellis Stewart will live in Cecilia history forever. This game winning TD is the stuff legends are made of. Down by 4 with 1 minute left and needing 51 yards to take the lead, the Bulldogs got it all in one play, from one QB to another.
That will be the lasting memory from Cecilia’s thrilling 35-32 win over Franklinton to bring home the state championship after coming up just short last year in the dome, but there was a lot that took place throughout this game.
It was a true tale of two halves: the offenses were unstoppable in the first half, combining for 53 points. Then the defenses made all the requisite adjustments and held the two teams to just 14 in the second half. We went from a game where any lead felt flimsy with the threat to dissipate at any time to a game where the lead meant everything as points suddenly became nearly impossible to come by.
Cecilia managed to win the game despite Franklinton getting their kind of game in the second half. Cecilia was the fast paced, high scoring team that wanted to blow the doors off the Devils. Instead, Franklinton slowed things down and made it a one score game, Going into tonight, Franklinton was 7-0 in such games.
And despite all that, Cecilia found a way to win the game. The defense, which had been allowing points during their playoff run (including the first half tonight), made the key stops to keep them in the game. Perhaps most importantly, they forced 3 Franklinton 2nd half turnovers, and those made the difference in the game.
The usual suspects from both teams all made their presences felt here. Solari went 8/18 with just 68 yards passsing, 1 TD and INT, but his game changing contribution came from his legs. He had 18 carries for 148 yards and 2 TDs, earning the outstanding player award in the process. 2027 4 star ATH Braylon Calais also had a great day, finishing with 190 all purpose.
On the Franklinton side of things, Sy Austin earned his outstanding player award with 30 carries for 147 yards and 3 spectacular rushing touchdowns. Add on his 71 kick return yards and he finished with 237 all purpose. Jacob Crain was 21/29 for 224 passing, many of which went to Damikies McClain, who finished with 10 catches for 125 yards.
The fireworks started early. Jacob Crain and Sy Austin were rolling with Austin scoring the game’s first TD and the Franklinton offense was clearly functioning at a high level. Then, on the ensuing kickoff, Braylon Calais ran the kickoff back 88 yards for a quick Cecilia Touchdown. We were tied up 7-7 in barely a blink of an eye.
Immediately after a Franklinton punt, star dual threat QB Diesel Solari made his presence known with a monster 83 yard rush, the longest run in any 3A or 4A state championship game ever. It was originally called a touchdown but eventually called back, and after a few more near-touchdowns, they finally had a no-doubter walk into the endzone by Solari to go up 14-7 just halfway through the first quarter.
Franklinton came roaring back immediately with another touchdown drive, although everyone finally got a chance to breathe as this was a longer 12 play drive. Jacob Crain gets it done on his feet, and Franklinton gets in on the special teams craziness themselves. Their game-tying PAT was faked, and Connor Magee threw it to Sy Austin in the endzone for a successful 2pt try, giving Franklinton the lead 15-14 at the end of the first.
Said special teams insanity continued as Cecilia got a fake punt off. Star safety, backup quarterback, and GF All-American Bowl Game commit Ellis Stewart was going to punt, but instead faked it on 4th and 8, looked like he would run it, then hit a jump pass to Braylon Calais to convert the 4th down in an insane highlight reel play, his 2nd 4th down conversion of the drive. Diesel Solari finished things off in style, and the 2pt conversion was completed by, you guessed it, Braylon Calais yet again. That put Cecilia up 22-15 midway through the 2nd quarter.
The points just kept pouring in as Franklinton responded again with Sy Austin’s 2nd touchdown of the game after the Devils’ 2nd straight 12 play drive. This time, the fake PAT didn’t quite work, and Cecilia maintained their lead 21-20.
Despite Franklinton scoring with just 3 minutes left in the half, we somehow got 10 more points in this game before hitting halftime. Cecilia got another TD drive before the half from Braylon Calais punching it in for his 2nd total touchdown of the game.
Then, with just 24 seconds left, Jacob Crain found Damikies McClain for a huge play to get the Devils into field goal range, which got us to a 29-24 halftime score.
The 3rd quarter somehow didn’t see any points scored, but it was still filled with plenty of big plays. First, Franklinton looked like they were going to score as they moved into the redzone via a Jacob Crain pass to Damikies McClain, but Gavin Solomon ripped it from him in the tie up for the ball and had an interception.
Then, Diesel Solari launched a moonball prayer on 3rd and long, but it too was intercepted, this time by Skylar Williams to give Franklinton the ball back.
Despite the scoreless nature of the 3rd quarter, it certainly felt like the game was slowly coming into Franklinton’s control. It was just a matter of them finally breaking through and taking the lead back. Early in the 4th quarter they finally did that, as Sy Austin made a sweet juke to score his 3rd rushing touchdown of the day, aided by a great block by Damikies McClain. The 2pt try was good, and Franklinton took a 32-29 lead.
Cecilia stalled on their next drive, so Franklinton had a chance to close the game out with just 3 minutes left. However, on the first play, Franklinton fumbled and Cecilia got the ball back. A few plays later, the Bulldogs took the lead on the aforementioned touchdown from Solari to Stewart that can be described as nothing short of miraculous, making the score 35-32.
Now with 1:17 left in the game and down 3, Franklinton had one last chance to tie or win the game. Jacob Crain starts moving the ball through the air with stunning precision to Damikies McClain and Sy Austin. Franklinton was rolling on the 30 yard line and 30 seconds left.
Then, in the blink of an eye, it all evaporated. Jacob Crain was sacked by Gridiron Football All-American Bowl Game commit Rylan Hardy and had the ball come out. It was ruled down on the field, but (perhaps controversially) overturned via review. Cecilia’s defense made the play when it mattered most and it won them the game.
Cecilia finally wins the state championship after being so close just one year ago, and Head Coach Dennis Skains can now hoist up a trophy the Bulldogs haven’t had since 1995. The Bulldogs had to earn the state championship the hard way by going on the road four times as the #18 seed before defeating the #1 seed in the state title game.
“It’s rewarding and we didn’t have much of a choice to embrace the Bulldog mentality. We started to talk about it towards the end of the season because we knew where it was going to fall. It’s an older group that was able to handle that. They have been in this situation so many times. I said it before and I keep saying it. We are the most confident 18 seed that you’ve ever seen. I don’t think we went into a game expecting to lose or thinking there is a possibility to lose. This team has a lot of grit and they’ve earned the right to have that confidence.”
Cecilia Head Coach Dennis Skains
Franklinton may have come up just short, but it was still a great run and story for Head Coach Nick Saltaformaggio, who has now made the state championship game with 3 different teams. This Franklinton team was 3-7 last year, and they made one of the best one-year turnarounds we have seen as of late in the state of Louisiana.
“It’s just the development of the program. My first year, we didn’t have a great program. My first year, we didn’t have a weight program. My mantra is weight room, classroom, locker room not necessarily in that order. You got to be great in all three of them. If you are not great in the locker room, the other two won’t matter. We knew when we got there what we needed to. Franklinton High School football is not going to be short on talent. It was short on stability and stability is in our program right now. We got great young coaches. We got a great young administrative team and a principal that believes in me that knows these roads. I knew we can flip the script. It would not shock me that we will be here next year with everybody smiling.”
Franklinton Head Coach Nick Saltaformaggio
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