Grizzlies score school record 70 points in Homecoming win over Earlham
FRANKLIN, Ind. (Sept. 22) - Franklin College put 56 points up on the Faught Stadium scoreboard before halftime and went on to rout Earlham 70-20 in its homecoming football game today.
The Grizzlies, ranked 25th this week in the D3football.com Top 25 Poll, improved to 2-0 in the Heartland Collegiate Athletic Conference and evened their overall mark at 2-2. The Quakers fell to 0-2 in the HCAC and 0-4.
Franklin's 70 points were the most scored in a single game in the 112-year history of the program.
The previous best points output by a Grizzly team was 69 points scored at Anderson in 2010. Prior to that game, FC tallied 68 points in a single contest twice. In 1960, the Grizzlies scored 68 vs. Navy Pier. The 1989 Franklin team matched that mark against Manchester.
How long did it take for Franklin to strike?
On the first play of the game, FC junior quarterback Jonny West combined with junior split end Kyle Linville on a 69-yard touchdown pass play.
Then Franklin scored twice more before the first five minutes of the game elapsed.
West hit Linville on 3-yard scoring toss on a fourth-down play to put FC up 14-0 after the Grizzlies got the football by blocking a Quaker punt. Then sophomore running back Joey Pasquale scored on a 12-yard run after the hosts recovered a fumble.
Franklin forced five Earlham fumbles and recovered them all.
The Grizzlies added one more TD in the opening period when West hit senior split end Ben Hamlin with an 11-yard strike a little more than two minutes later.
Franklin simply overpowered Earlham's defense with its rushing attack all day, totaling 380 net yards on the ground and seven touchdowns in all.
Three of those rushing scores came in the second quarter when sophomore backup quarterback Grant Welp broke loose for a 58-yard touchdown run, junior running back Kyle Holzbog ran in from 11 yards out and sophomore running back Micah Hatch rushed for a 26-yard TD.
The Grizzlies added their last two scores on the ground in the third quarter when sophomore back Sam Otley bulled in on a 1-yard run and freshman back Cody Hess broke through and sped away on a 53-yard dash to the end zone.
Earlham avoided a shutout by scoring on a 13-yard pass from backup quarterback Matt Couch to wide receiver Marcus Coby later in the third period.
The Quakers added a pair of touchdowns in the last quarter when running back Tre Stephens rushed for a 9-yard TD and Couch scored on a 1-yard keeper as time ran out.
West completed 10 of 13 passes for 160 yards and three scores. Hamlin caught four passes for 36 yards and a TD and Welp led FC's rushing effort with 81 yards and two touchdowns on five carries.
Franklin rolled up 554 yards of total offense to Earlham's 320 yards, winning its homecoming game for the sixth straight season.
Sophomore defensive back Cory Schrader and junior linebacker Alex Van Cleve made five total tackles each to lead the Grizzlies' defense.
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Former Franklin football player Jim Plummer, who was inducted in the FC Athletic Hall of Fame this week, played as a senior on the 1960 Grizzly team that tallied 68 points against Navy Pier.
