“That was the best feeling ever. It’s like a dream,” said Moore, who ran 22 times and tallied Franklin’s final two touchdowns on a 55-yard run and a 1-yard plunge. “I’ve been working all offseason and just came through.”
Moore suffered a season-ending broken leg in Week 6 last year, so he’s been eager to return to regular-season action.
“The O-line did such a great job tonight. I’m so proud of them. They came such a long way,” Moore said. “The whole game when we were down, I just kept saying, ‘I’m not losing. I refuse to lose,’ and we did it. Unbelievable. Franklin football is everything. We win. That’s all we do is win.”
The Wildcats got outgained 443-292 in yardage, but the Indians stung themselves with four turnovers and couldn’t hold a 21-13 lead in Mike Brown’s debut at the CHS helm.
“You look at the turnovers and that will be the No. 1 stat that tells you what’s going on,” Brown said. “We’d put together nice drives and then we’d give it back to them. Ball security is a huge thing for us, so the turnovers are a pretty big surprise to me.”
Carlisle fumbled the ball away three times and got intercepted once, but turnovers weren’t the only issues.
• The Indians dropped a punt snap in their own territory in the second quarter, though it led to no points for Franklin.
• Trailing 24-21 early in the fourth stanza, Carlisle’s Ridge Reed ran for a first down on a fake punt, only to have the play wiped out by a penalty.
• The Wildcats faced fourth-and-5 at the CHS 41-yard line with about seven minutes remaining. The Indians were flagged for having too many men on the field, Franklin was given a first down, and Moore marked his second TD with 4:34 left to make it 31-21.
“We had a lot of guys that played well,” Brown said. “We just made some key mistakes that really kind of sank us.”
Noah Kremer was just 2-of-11 for 40 yards for the Wildcats, but one of those completions was a 31-yard touchdown to J.J. Abdushahid-Fuller. Matt Schneider added three field goals (29, 36 and 30 yards) for the winners.
“At first they came out and smacked us in the mouth, but we just kept grinding and grinding, and that was the result,” said Franklin linebacker Sam Hauser, who recovered two fumbles and returned one 56 yards before getting caught. “I think we had first-game jitters at the beginning, but once we got those out, we started playing and did our job. I think people are counting us out, but we’re here to play.”
Nate Glossip also recovered a fumble and teammate Brad Burns intercepted Carlisle’s Daulton Butler just before halftime in the end zone.
Ryan Montgomery gained 34 yards on 16 carries for the Wildcats. He also ripped off a 71-yard kickoff return.
“From a game standpoint, we left way too many points on the board,” Franklin coach Brad Childers said. “We didn’t take advantage of our opportunities, but our defense got the ball back for us, and our kicking game came through.
“At the end of the day, it was a learning lesson for our guys. I kept telling them, ‘Keep believing, rise above expectations.’ I feel like people have written our kids off a little bit and we are a young football team, but I’m extremely proud of our guys.”
The 6-foot, 200-pound Moore earned special praise from both coaches for his performance.
“Bailee Moore is a great football player, and our offensive linemen got it going up front tonight,” Childers said. “If you can establish the line of scrimmage and create a running game, great things can happen.”
“We had some alignment issues on defense,” Brown said. “Franklin found those and started running at them, and that kid is a heck of a player. It wasn’t like he was running in wide-open space. He was breaking tackles and getting down the sideline.”
Reed ran the ball 22 times for 138 yards and two touchdowns for the Indians. D.J. Chambers added a scoring run and gained 34 yards on six rushes, but missed a large chunk of the second half because of cramping.
Butler was 19-of-27 for 235 yards and had 12 carries for 35 yards. Zayne Hart was his favorite target (nine catches, 102 yards) and chipped in an interception on defense.
“I know when I turn on the film, I’ll see our kids playing hard,” Brown said. “Effort was not a problem. This one hurts, but we’ll put it in the books and start looking ahead tomorrow.”
He walked away from his Carlisle debut feeling “motivated.”
“Ever since I got here in January, all anybody ever really talked about was the atmosphere that’s going to be at the first game and how loud and fun it will be at Carlisle,” Brown said. “Now it would be nice to know how to finish one of those up.”
Both teams will be back in action next Friday, Franklin at home against Edgewood and Carlisle at Washington Court House Miami Trace.
Franklin 3-10-3-15—31
Carlisle 7-7-7-0—21
C: D.J. Chambers 2 run (Bradley Harrison kick)
F: Matt Schneider 29 field goal
C: Ridge Reed 1 run (Harrison kick)
F: J.J. Abdushahid-Fuller 31 pass from Noah Kremer (Schneider kick)
F: Schneider 36 field goal
C: Reed 44 run (Harrison kick)
F: Schneider 30 field goal
F: Bailee Moore 55 run (Ryan Montgomery pass from Kremer)
F: Moore 1 run (Schneider kick)
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