The Thursday night matchup between Franklinton and Jewel Sumner did not fail to disappoint as this was one of the best games of the early 2024 season with the Demons battling their way back to win a thriller over the Cowboys by a final score of 42-39.
Freshman kicker Gabe Ezell nailed a 25 yard field goal to win in overtime and gave the Franklinton Demons their fourth win of the season while also putting an end to the Jewel Sumner Cowboys’ undefeated season.
The win was very well earned by Nick Saltaformaggio’s squad as the Demons trailed by as much as 14 points as well as eight points on two occasions including the final drive.
“That’s a really good football team over there. We have the ability to do things that are special. Tonight was special. You are coming on the road against a 4-0 team that is extremely talented and has built themselves for this season. To come back from two scores twice, have a two point play called back and make the play, and have a ninth grader come in and kick a field goal to win it. I can’t tell you how proud I am of them.”
Franklinton head coach Nick Saltaformaggio
The Cowboys missed two extra points in the fourth quarter, and it proved to be the difference in the game heading to overtime.
Trailing 39-31 with two minutes left in the game, Jacob Crain executed the drive to perfection driving the offense down the field and scored on a quarterback sneak to pull the Demons within two. Franklinton was able to get the much needed two point conversion to tie the game at 39 with a successful run from Gridiron Football Player of the Week finalist Sy Austin.
Although Franklinton’s defense did have trouble in stopping a balanced Jewel Sumner rushing attack, that side of the football was able to shut the Cowboys out of the end zone on four downs in overtime including a second interception by Avery Brumfield to set up the game winning field goal.
They also got three great performances at each major skill position offensively. Sy Austin finished with 30 carries for 104 yards and two touchdowns. Jacob Crain completed 17 of 21 passes for 165 yards and one touchdown plus a rushing touchdown. Finally, Conner Magee had four carries for 38 yards and two touchdowns plus four catches for 37 more yards to lead the offense. (Stats provided by Grant Chachere)
“Sy Austin, Conner, Jacob all had great performances. Gabe Ezell is a great kicker and believe it or not, it was a 42-39 game, our defense did not play badly. It was just unbelievable athletes. I want to give a shoutout to Elisha Hart and DJ Anders, who have really played some great football for us in the two linebackers.”
Franklinton head coach Nick Saltaformaggio
The wild start to this game was a big indication on what kind of game this was going to be. After Franklinton fakes a punt and is unsuccessful, its defense was able to force a turnover when DJ Anders gets an interception.
The Cowboys were able to get a stop, but again, the turnover bug got to the Cowboys as Jamohn Dyson fumbles the football. As a result, the Demons were finally able to cash in with a four yard run by Austin to give Franklinton an early 6-0 lead.
Jewel Sumner was able to respond with their first big drive of the ball game as Jeremiah Brooks scores from four yards out to tie the game at 6-6 by the end of the first quarter.
Conner Magee was able to give Franklinton back the lead to start the second quarter with a 12 yard rushing touchdown to give them a 13-6 edge.
The ensuing drive, Cowboys quarterback Ke’Muary Warren was trying to run a quarterback sneak, but what was supposed to be just a short run turned out to be a big play by Jewel Sumner as Warren did break loose for a 20 yard touchdown to tie the game at 13.
Jewel Sumner scored another touchdown right after recovering a fumble this time by Jah’Kari Brown on fourth down to give the Cowboys a 20-13 lead at halftime.
In the third quarter, Jewel Sumner head coach Ross Currier went into his bag of tricks on fourth down as Javion Kidd faked a punt and threw a pass to Brooks for a first down. Brooks was able to score a touchdown on the very next play to give the Cowboys a 27-13 cushion.
Franklinton was able to hang around and responded with Austin’s second touchdown run of the night to pull within eight at 27-19, but failed to make the extra point with less than five minutes to play in the third quarter.
Like when Jewel Sumner was able to get back to back possessions off a turnover in the first half, Franklinton was able to do that in the second half as the defense got its second interception at this point of the game with Avery Brumfield getting a pick. The offense capitalized when Jacob Crain found Jaiden Garrett for a six yard touchdown to pull within two at 27-25 at the end of the third quarter.
Ke’Muary Warren accounted for his second touchdown of the game and his first through the air as he connected with Dyson for a 14 yard touchdown to make it 33-25.
The Cowboys just can’t get rid of the Demons to this point as they score again to pull within two points at 33-31 when Conner Magee scored his second touchdown of the game halfway into the fourth quarter.
Jewel Sumner scored again with a nine yard rushing touchdown by Makailey Robbins to put the Cowboys ahead at 39-31, but the ensuing extra point was no good, and that would lead to the final exciting two minutes and overtime period that was discussed above.
The Franklinton Demons improve to 4-1 on the season and three of those wins came against ranked opponents while their only loss came against an undefeated 5A team in Covington. Getting a big road victory over the Cowboys, head coach Nick Saltaformaggio feels that his team should finally get the respect that they deserve over the great start to the season with being ranked themselves in the upcoming LSWA polls.
“Let me something. That was a very good football team that we just played. I’ve never been around a group of guys that has persevered like this. We are playing with a little bit of a chip. People forgot about Franklinton. They forgot what Shane Smith did at Franklinton for a long time. We are sitting at the corner of the boot. We don’t get a lot of pub. We haven’t gotten a single vote, which is amazing to me because we have now beaten three ranked teams and our only loss came against a really good undefeated Covington team. We are sitting number two in the power ratings. You saw who we are.”
Franklinton head coach Nick Saltaformaggio
Another top notch win in thrilling fashion has given an already confident group even more confidence heading into district play against Lakeshore next week.
“Anytime that you win a game like this, it shows great moxy and it builds great confidence. I told our kids early on when the schedule was put together that I want them to play teams like us, but I want to play really good teams. When you think about Amite, very good team and great program. We beat them in a close game 19-6. We played Covington and shot ourselves in the foot because we didn’t believe what we are doing as far as their moxy and their ability to believe that they are winners. We go to Pine and we go for two to win it. Everything changed immediately for us after that moment and obviously, we had a big win last week. We knew what this was. When you put the film on, you know what you are coming in to play. Our kids had that confidence and that belief and that has carried it through for us.”
Franklinton head coach Nick Saltaformaggio
Meanwhile, the Cowboys fall to 4-1, but Jewel Sumner still looks like a tough team with a balanced running game that had five different players score against the Demons. They will look to bounce back next week against Springfield.
