Commentary By Joe Abraham | ESPN Radio Winchester & 931Go.com
Nearly 24 hours have passed since Franklin County walked off the field in Manchester on the wrong end of a 34-8 final against Coffee County, and I’ve had some time to wrap my head around what I watched.
The shock. The surprise. The confusion. The good, the bad and the ugly.
Here’s where I’m at.
This is not a bad football team.
They just played a bad football game.
There’s a difference.
Franklin County entered Friday night with a level of excitement surrounding the program that simply hasn’t existed in a while. There was anticipation around a new season, a new-look operation under head coach Chuck Reid and a group of players who spent the summer getting stronger, more disciplined and more prepared.
Then the Rebels took the opening possession, marched right down the field with a few big completions to Austin Heath and went up 8-0 after Baylor Hayes found Monte Johnson on a slant route. Johnson broke a tackle, spun through traffic and found the end zone.
For a brief moment, it looked exactly like everyone hoped it would.
Then Coffee County responded.
Quickly.
After a short Rebel drive, the Red Raiders took a lead they would never relinquish.
And there’s no reason to soften what happened from there.
Coffee County was the more physical football team Friday night.
They controlled the line of scrimmage, and their dynamic one-two punch of Kaysen Lowrey and Tez Garrett ran the football effectively while putting together long drives that forced Franklin County to stay on defense for extended stretches.
At one point, Coffee County ran 25 plays over the course of two possessions. Twenty of them were runs.
Franklin County managed only a handful of offensive snaps during the same stretch.
And, as Coffee County planned, it took a toll.
Many of Franklin County’s best players are being asked to play offense, defense and special teams. And they wear that challenge like a badge of honor.
Coffee County, meanwhile, had the luxury of rotating fresh players on a steamy Tennessee night — a luxury Franklin County simply will not be afforded much this season.
That is not an excuse.
We knew depth would be a challenge.
And none of this is meant to take anything away from the winner.
Coffee County was simply the better football team Friday night.
But I also don’t think the final score tells the entire story of how this game got away from Franklin County.
The Rebels had opportunities.
A lot of them.
They just didn’t capitalize.
Early, Franklin County had a chance to reclaim the lead after recovering a muffed punt and moving the football inside the Coffee County red zone.
The drive stalled.
The conversion attempt failed.
And that became the story of the night.
Over and over again, it felt like the Rebels were one play away from changing the complexion of the game.
Johnson appeared to haul in a touchdown at the back of the end zone before being ruled out.
Down 20-8, Franklin County recovered an onside kick to open the second half and suddenly had an opportunity to steal momentum.
On the very next play, the Rebels threw an interception on a deep shot.
It was a tough night for Franklin County’s star receiver.
Johnson got behind the defense with nobody between him and the end zone, only to drop what would have been a touchdown.
Later, after battling through cramping issues, Johnson caught a deep post for a huge gain before being tracked down from behind and having the football knocked loose.
And he wasn’t the only one who had opportunities slip through his fingers.
After scoring three times in last week’s scrimmage against Huntland, Logan Polkinghorn had an opportunity for an interception from his safety position and couldn’t quite finish it.
At another point, he put the football on the ground.
Then late in the game, Polkinghorn went up and made a great catch before a Coffee County defender came down across his lower body, knocking him out of the game.
That was Friday night.
Franklin County missed nearly every opportunity it was given.
Coffee County seemed to capitalize on nearly every opportunity it received.
And that matters even more when your offense is built around explosive plays.
The Rebels aren’t really constructed right now to grind out 15-play drives over and over again.
Their strength is speed.
Space.
Playmakers.
And the frustrating part is that the opportunities to make those plays were there Friday night.
They just didn’t make them when they mattered most.
Sometimes it was obvious — a dropped ball or a turnover.
Sometimes it was something smaller. A missed block on a tunnel screen. A perfectly timed tug of a jersey from a defender that throws off the timing of a route just enough.
Little things.
But little things become big things in football.
That doesn’t mean there weren’t bright spots.
Austin Heath showed the ability to be a dynamic offensive weapon this season. He was involved immediately on that opening drive and looks like someone who can become a major part of this offense.
Hayes was on target for much of the night and looked very good when he had time to throw. There were several throws Friday night that showed exactly why there has been so much excitement around him entering the season.
Polkinghorn and Johnson were held in check compared to what many of us expected.
They’ll rebound.
Both are too talented and too important to this football team not to.
And Franklin County is relying on a significant number of younger players who are going to grow tremendously simply by playing.
There is no substitute for Friday night experience.
That is important context when talking about where this team currently stands.
Because Franklin County had so much success this summer, they raised the standard.
And the expectations.
Maybe to the point that we started forgetting there were inevitably going to be some growing pains along the way.
We saw success against smaller programs.
We saw success against 1A schools.
We saw success in 7-on-7 environments.
We saw enough positive things that expectations started climbing quickly.
Friday night was a reminder that there is still another level to reach.
Coffee County used its depth, physicality and style of play to expose some areas Franklin County still has to develop.
It reminded us how far there still is to go.
But that doesn’t erase the progress that has already been made.
Because there are certain things we no longer have to speculate about.
We know these players have worked.
We know this coaching staff has worked.
We know they are stronger than they were.
We know they have improved technically.
We know the overall operation is better.
Those things have already been proven over the summer.
Friday night was not filled with blown assignments, constant penalties or undisciplined football.
Franklin County was relatively clean.
There were very few flags.
There weren’t blown coverages all over the field.
There weren’t repeated mental breakdowns.
All of that matters.
But the Rebels did not tackle well enough.
They weren’t physical enough.
They didn’t finish enough plays.
And eventually, the game got away from them.
Coffee County took advantage.
People are going to see 34-8 and assume nothing has changed with Franklin County football.
I completely disagree.
Everything has changed.
I watched a group run into a more physical opponent and fail to respond well enough.
I watched a team get several opportunities to change the game and fail to make the plays.
I watched young players gain experience they cannot get in practice.
And I watched a coaching staff get a very clear picture of where improvement is needed.
That is why the timing of Franklin County’s bye week may end up being a blessing.
There was plenty of criticism during the offseason about having an open week this early in the schedule.
Now?
It looks pretty useful.
The coaching staff gets time to really evaluate what happened Friday night without immediately having to turn around and prepare for another opponent.
The players get time to adjust.
Time to look in the mirror.
Time to address the tackling and physicality.
Time to work on finishing those plays that were there Friday night.
And maybe most importantly, time to reset mentally.
The expectations surrounding this football team are not unfair.
These players are capable of being a good football team.
That is exactly why Friday night was so disappointing.
If there were no expectations, nobody would be upset.
But there are expectations because we have seen enough over the last few months to believe this group is capable of more.
Friday night didn’t change that for me.
It just showed how much work remains.
Rome wasn’t built in a day.
Neither is a football program.
And certainly not a culture.
Not character.
And those last two might be the most important parts of what Chuck Reid and his staff are trying to build.
So yes, Coffee County was better Friday night.
Franklin County got beat.
But Friday night is only one small piece of what this team will become over the next couple of months.
The next test comes September 4.
And I expect Franklin County to look much more like the team we thought we were going to see.
Not because Friday night didn’t matter.
Because it did.
Sometimes the best thing that can happen to a young football team is getting an honest look at exactly where it stands.
Franklin County got that Friday night.
Now we’ll see what the culture they’ve spent all summer building does with it.
