WESSON – Coming into Friday night’s Wesson/Franklin Countyshowdown, many believed that Wesson’s high-powered offense would betoo much for the Franklin County Bulldogs to handle. The Cobrasentered the game 3-0 with wins over Prentiss, North Pike and Salem.But the Bulldogs’ stingy defense and powerful ground attack buriedthe Cobras’ unbeaten hopes with a 21-0 shutout.

“We needed this victory real bad,” said Bulldog defensive endDonald Ray Smith. “We came out here and did whatever it tooktonight for us to win. We’ve got to continue to do that in order toreach our goal of playing in the big house,” meaning MississippiVeterans Memorial Stadium in Jackson where the state championshipgames are played each year.

Smith, a 6-foot-1, 175-pound sophomore, set the tone early forthe Dawgs with three first-half sacks of Cobra quarterback JasonShannon. Smith ended the night with six tackles, three sacks, twocaused fumbles and one deflection.

“Franklin County’s defense really made things happen tonight,”said Wesson head coach Ronald Greer. “We fumbled seven times andlost it twice inside our 20. Anytime you do that, you’re bound tolose.”

One of those Cobra fumbles resulted in the Bulldogs’ first scoreof the night. Cecil Kinzie went 11 yards untouched with 3:00remaining in the first quarter. After a Blackwell PAT, the Dawgsheld an early 7-0 advantage.

“That’s all we wanted was a lead,” said Bulldog insidelinebacker James Hunt. “We knew that if we got the lead early, ourdefense wasn’t going to let us down. Our team made a statementtonight,”

Hunt’s statement came in the third quarter when he and juniorlinebacker Aaron (Y2J) Jones dislodged the ball from Cobraquarterback Russell Robinson at the 50-yard line. The Dawgs woulduse their powerful ground attack to score their second touchdown ofthe night from two-yards out off a Jon (Skeet) Hickingbottomplunge. After a failed PAT, the Dawgs led 13-0 with 5:29 remainingin the period.

After several failed passing plays, the Cobras entered thefourth quarter with visions of a comeback. Those visions got erasedon third and 10 as Bulldog junior defensive tackle Hardy Fox sentshockwaves through Stone Stadium with a furious, bone-rattling hiton Wesson runngingback Marcus Corley.

Robinson would later take to the air with several long passattempts. On third and eight, Robinson’s 20-yard pass to juniorKyle Smith looked as if it might have been caught but Tommie Smithhad other plans. Smith split the Cobras receivers and singlehandedly took the ball out of the air at the 21. Smith raced 50yards down field to the Cobra 29 before running out of bounds.

It would take the Dawgs two plays to score again asHickingbottom went 22 yards untouched for the 19-0 lead. After abad snap on the PAT, sophomore kicker Chris Blackwell took mattersinto his own hands by running the PAT in from 14 yards out.

“We needed this victory tonight,” said Bulldog head coachMichael Goff. “This gives us a chance to get some momentum going aswe head into region play next week against North Pike. Overall, I’mglad we finally played 40 minutes of football tonight.”

Goff’s Dawgs racked up a mere 173 yards of total offense.Hickingbottom led the crew with 12 carries for 86 yards and twotouchdowns.

On defense, the Dawgs were led by Hunt with 10tackles. Senior defensive back Walter Anderson was second withseven tackles, two deflections and a fumble recovery. Juniors AaronJones, Hardy Fox and Jason Wyatt each finished with six tacklesapiece.

For the Cobras, Billy Ray Miller led with eight rushes for 20yards. Shannon had five carries for 14 yards.

Leading the Cobras on defense was Miller with 16 tackles.Robinson finished with 11 tackles, three fumble recoveries and onesack. Junior Charles Powell had nine tackles. Ryan Williams andShannon each had six.

The Bulldogs will next play host to Region 6-3A rival NorthPike. Wesson travels to Crystal Springs.

STATISTICS

FC

W

First Downs

12

10

Rushing Yards

37-165

29-78

Passing Yards

8

51

Total Yards

173

129

Passes

1-2-0

4-10-2

Penalties-Yards

8-55

4-40

Fumbles-Lost

6-3

7-4

Punts-Average

5-27

2-23

Franklin

7

0

6

8 – 21

Wesson

0

0

0

0 – 0

FIRST QUARTER

FC – Kinzie 11 run (Blackwell kick)

THIRD QUARTER

FC – Hickingbottom 2 run (kick failed)

FOURTH QUARTER

FC – Hickingbottom 22 run (Blackwell run)

INDIVIDUAL LEADERS

RUSHING: FC, Hickingbottom 12-86, Kinzie 6-38, T. Smith 6-23,Anderson 2-8, Brown 6-8, Beach 5-0. W, Miller 8-20, Shannon 5-14,Corley 3-9, E. Sinclair 5-17, Robinson 4-0, Williams 3-14, Jackson1-4.

PASSING: FC, Beach 1-2-0, 8; W, Shannon 3-4-0.

RECEIVING: FC, Windom 1-8. W, Corley 3-44, Richie Miller1-7.