MEADVILLE — Gary Rogers and Preston Griffith were freshmen onthe Franklin County Bulldogs team the last time they celebrated adistrict title. Three years later they celebrate as seniors.

With a tipped pass from Mike Hunt and a key grab by Rogers, plussome powerful running from Griffith, the Bulldogs held offTylertown 14-12 to win the Region 7-3A Championship Fridaynight.

Franklin County will next play host to Raymond in the firstround of the Class 3A State Playoffs Friday, Nov. 3, in LouieMullins Memorial Stadium. Tylertown will host Crystal Springs.

“It was a big win for us,” said Bulldogs head coach GradyMcCluskey. “I kept telling our guys to make a play somewhere, andthey did.”

The Bulldogs (9-1, 6-0) made several big plays defensively tostop Tylertown down the stretch. Senior linebacker Gary Rogers,perhaps made the biggest play of them all by sealing the door shuton a pesky Tylertown offense. Facing fourth and 14 with a 1:30remaining, Rogers snagged a pass by Chiefs quarterback Adam Fayardat the Bulldog 15-yard line. He then raced down field 10 yards,before finally being stopped in a rampage of celebration.

“Mike (Hunt) tipped it and I got it,” said a sweat soaked Rogersafter the game, “It feels great to be division champs.”

Rogers and senior teammate Preston Griffith were freshmen thelast time the Bulldogs won district in 2003. Rogers than afullback, and now a linebacker had a game high eight tackles to goalong with his key interception.

“We found ways to win,” said McCluskey. “Defense stood up to thechallenge and made some big plays when we needed them to, and ouroffense had a good game as well.”

Griffith, Franklin County’s 6-foot-1, 215-pound running back,led the Bulldogs offense with 158 yards rushing on 23 carries toeclipse the 1,000 yard plateau for the season. His first quarterrun of 25 yards to the Tylertown 10, opened the offense up andhelped setup teammate Jordan Hunt’s 10-yard touchdown plungeseconds later.

“Preston ran hard,” said McCluskey. “He stepped up.”

In the second quarter, Griffith added an 18-yard tackle-sliceren route to the end zone. Franklin County kicker Jace Carlock addedthe extra-point boot to give the Bulldogs a 14-0 advantage with1:33 remaining in the first half.

Tylertown (7-3, 5-1) answered with 0:01 remaining in the secondframe off a 9-yard pass from Fayard to junior wideout J.D. Ratliff.Bulldog defensive specialist Brandon Collins blocked theextra-point kick, to give Franklin a 14-6 lead heading intointermission.

After a scoreless third period, the Chiefs hit paydirt againfrom two-yards out as Fayard scored on a keeper. The Chiefs failedto tie the game, as Franklin’s stingy defense stopped Tylertown onthe conversion attempt.

“We knew we had to keep making plays,” said Bulldog defensivetackle Bo Tillman, a 6-6, 305-pound giant.

Tillman took the game over during the last five minutes bynetting two quarterback sacks and deflecting a pass to stopTylertown from entering the red zone. Collins, Rogers, and the HuntBoys, Greg, Mike, and Jordan, added insult to Tylertown’s scoringchances by pressuring Fayard and breaking up passes in the finalminutes of the contest. Rogers sealed the game with his timelyinterception, which allowed Franklin’s offense to run out theclock.

Franklin County’s defense got six tackles, two sacks, and a passdeflection from Bo Tillman. Mike Hunt had six hits and two passbreak-ups. Junior defensive end Aljoshua Tillman finished with sixtackles and a sack. Brandon Collins and Jordan Hunt each added sixhits and a deflection. Senior cornerback Greg Hunt finished withfour tackles and four pass break-ups.

For Tylertown, senior defensive back Mario Cotton finished withseven tackles and a pass break up.

Offensively, Fayard led the Chiefs with 174 yards passing on13-of-27 attempts. He added 34 yards rushing on 12 carries.

“We held their powerful offense to 12 points,” added McCluskeyas he walked off the field looking ahead to the playoffs. “That’s avictory with in itself.”