WESSON — For nearly three hours Friday night, the FranklinCounty Bulldogs turned Stone Stadium into a field hospital for theWesson Cobras. The visitors flexed, stretched and bent their highlytouted Class 3A muscles on every Wesson player with jarring hitsand knockout blows that sent several Cobras to the sidelines withinjuries. The Bulldogs won the contest 48-6.

“Definitely they (Franklin) are as good as billed,” said Wessonhead coach Tommy Clopton about the Bulldogs’ rank among some of thebest teams in the state. “They have a lot of talent and some verygood players.”

Clopton watched the Bulldogs (4-0) score 21 points in the lastfour minutes of the first quarter to take advantage of the game.The Bulldogs got scoring runs of six yards from senior running backDeAndrea Cameron and 12 yards from sophomore fullback Gary Rogers.Senior speedster Jonathan Brooks added a 77-yard punt return in thefinal seconds to give the Bulldogs the early edge.

“Our running backs ran hard and played strong the whole game,”said Bulldog field general Anthony Hart. “It was an ugly win forus.”

Hart saw his team struggle at times with consistency. TheBulldogs scored in spurts a majority of the night, despite notclicking on offense.

“We didn’t seem as focused,” added Hart. “We must regroup andrefocus before starting division play at North Pike next week.”

The Bulldogs got a 24-yard run from Cameron with 0:56 remainingin the first half. Cameron quickly added another run of 62 yards atthe beginning of the second half for a 34-0 Bulldog lead.

Sensing an opportunity to insert the younger players on hisroster, Hart quickly substituted his first string with his secondstring. Reserve junior running back Jonte’ Marshall scored on a43-yard tackle breaking sprint with 7:36 to go in the thirdquarter. After sophomore kicker Dane Hodges added the extra point,the Bulldogs led 41-0.

In the fourth frame, the Cobras finally broke the Bulldogs’nine-quarter shutout streak with a Blake Brister two-yard plungewith 11:33 remaining in the game.

Not to be outdone, the Bulldogs added another score off a38-yard sprint from sophomore Jay Bailey.

“We’ve just got to regroup,” said Clopton. “We’ve got a strongTerry team on the road next week. Hopefully, we didn’t get too manyhurt after this one.”

Wesson starting quarterback Micah Davis suffered a concussionearly in the second quarter, after colliding with Bulldog strongmenDeAndre Davis and Marvin Bridges on a run. Sophomore back-up JosephDecker replaced Davis. Wesson defensive back Roy Williams alsosustained a concussion after being run over by Bulldog sophomorerunning back Thomas Lane in the fourth quarter.

Defensively, Bridges led the Bulldogs with 10tackles and a deflection. Junior linebacker Casey Hammack addedeight stops. D.J. Shaw and Andrew Smith each netted six tacklesapiece. Davis recovered a fumble. Junior defensive end MarcusTillman made five stops and issued a sack.

For the Cobras, Jordan Smith led the team with eight tackles anda sack. Senior linebacker Marc Lilley added six tackles.

Offensively, the Cobras got 20 carries and 87 yards fromBrister. Freshmen fullback Randy Driscoll rushed for 24 yards oneight carries. Senior Brian Channell ran for 22 yards on 11carries.

For the Bulldogs, Cameron led all rushers with 130 yards on 10carries for three scores. Senior quarterback Jasper O’Quinn rushedfor 74 yards on four carries, while Marshall gained 50 yards on tworuns. Bailey issued two carries for 48 yards. Standout freshmenMichael Jenkins added three carries for 36 yards.

Wesson travels to Terry this week,while the Bulldogs beginRegion 7-3A play at North Pike. Both games have been set forkickoff at 7:30.