Jake Gibson ran through his progressions slowly as he trotted out to attempt a potential game-winning 35-yard field for Franklin High School. The second-seeded Indians trailed the visiting third-seeded Poly Engineers by one, 8-7, with just 6:25 to go in the game. With the way both defenses were playing, this kick would likely decide the winner.
“Get the block down in the right spot… Nice easy motion…swing true and straight,” Gibson told himself.
He lined up on the right hash mark, and prepared for the kick of his life.
The snap was perfect, the follow through was perfect, and the kick split the uprights. The Franklin fans let out a deafening roar while Gibson’s teammates mobbed him on the field. After Franklin’s defense held Poly, the Indians celebrated a 10-8 victory.
“That kick was money right there,” said Gibson, who is now 6 for 7 on field goal tries this year. “I mean, it was a chip shot – cash in the bank. I’ve done it before from this distance…the only thing different was this was the end of the game.”
After the kick, Franklin’s defense still had to shut down Poly. With 6:21 left, backup quarterback Darrell Milburn, who was subbing in for the injured Antoine Goodson (shoulder), led the Engineers down to the Indians 33-yard line. But on fourth-and-1 with time running out, Milburn was stopped cold on a quarterback sneak by linebacker Anthony Lazon.
“We watched them on film and we knew what they were going to do in a short yardage situation,” said Franklin coach Anthony Burgos. “The D-tackles had a good push up front and we blitzed the A-gap. That allowed Anthony to come in and make the stop.”
With the win, Franklin ends a drought of playoff futility; they lost in the first round in each of the last two years. They will face top-seed Hereford on Nov. 20, a team they has beaten them handily in consecutive seasons. That didn’t stop Franklin’s Zach Silverberg, who finished with a game-high 61 yards, from making a bold prediction.
“We had a playoff curse, and we broke that tonight,” Silverberg said. “No we’re going to win another tough game, and we’re gong to states. We’ll see you all again after Thanksgiving.”
Franklin opened up the scoring with a late second quarter touchdown. Silverberg and quarterback Joey Dorsey (9 for 13 for 90 yards) led a 10-play 86-yard drive capped off by a spectacular 17-yard touchdown catch from Ian Thomas (three catches, 40 yards).
“It was just a simple fade pattern,” Burgos said. “We saw a matchup we liked and Joey threw it up to him. He went up and made a great play.”
Poly took the lead in the third quarter on a big 51-yard run by Jermaine Boone. Trailing 7-6, Poly went for two and running back Jamel Chappell punched it in, giving the Engineers an 8-6 lead. But Franklin responded to win on Gibson’s kick.
“Jacob is a tremendous kicker,” Burgos said. “We knew if we could get inside that 30 yard line with the wind we knew he could hit.”
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