Marion Franklin Red Devils raise Cain in 28-6 win over Independence 76ers

Tagged under: Beyond The Keystone, Game Photos, Gameday Hub, News

David Burnworth | September 25, 2022

Saturday afternoon I changed my schedule skipping the Bellaire 42-7 Route of Wintersville Indian Creek and made the short drive to Independence high school here in Columbus, Ohio to watch the 76ers battle City League foe, Marion Franklin. The 76ers came in with a nice 3-1 record and the Red Devils came in 202 but on a two-game win streak. I want to thank everyone I interacted with from Independence starting with the A.D. for getting me the rosters and for the coach shooting film for this one up in the stands. for our football talk. The sportsmanship in this one was a joy to watch from both teams, especially from Carmello Yarbrough of the Red Devils.

Marion Franklin would use a ten-play drive that showed eight runs and two completed passes to take the early lead. The touchdown came on a 2-yard run from Tito Glass. The two-point conversion came on a catch from Dez’Wuan Dickerson giving the visitors the 8-0 lead, with 7:00 left in the quarter. The Red Devils line was outstanding on the drive giving the smallish crowd just a glimpse of how well they were going to play.

The 76ers would get a 59-yard touchdown throw from Antonio Harris to Tymere Richards to make the score 8-6, with a little under 7:00 left in the quick-moving opening act. Harris is what I call an athlete playing QB and he can be as dangerous as an Inland Taipan especially when he tucks the ball and runs. The rest of the opening act would breeze by with one big play sticking out and that was a play that showed Tito Glass and Aaris Billingsley teaming up to drop 76er AJ Jordan for a loss of eight.

The 76ers found themselves facing a fourth and one with 9:30 showing on the clock and they decided to go for it. The call was a run from Antonio Harris but Malik Ali and Dickerson were ready for it and they planted Harris in the ground for a short loss. The Red Devils defense looked as good as they did last week in their win over Briggs.

Starting at the Independence thirty-three-yard line the Red Devils needed just two plays to find pay dirt again. Noah McLendon would find Terry Black for the thirty-three-yard touchdown making this a 14-6 game. Black along with Glass is as good as any combo in the City. That combo will cause nightmares for the rest of the defenses that will be seeing these two in the coming weeks.

The Marion Franklin defense would get another big play at the 8:47 mark of the quarter when Glass and Adarius Allison teamed up to stop AJ Jordan for a 5-yard loss. Twenty-two seconds later Harris would throw an easy pick to Rozell Dotstry. On the ensuing drive, the 76ers defense would get a huge fourth-down stop when Glass was stopped just short of the yardage needed after making a nice catch, with a little under 7:00 left in the half.

Going for it on fourth down was a common thing in this contest with that in mind Independence would elect to do just that at the 5:39 mark with Harris having his number called but the defensive line of the Red Devils was ready for it and easily made the stop. I was impressed by the Red Devils defense last week where they stopped the Briggs offense. I believe today they faced a more dangerous offense and they were up to the task.

McLendon would get a nice completion to Naszir Jackson for a gain of forty and then he found Black for the 30-yard score that saw Black break a tackle to get into the endzone. Dickerson was open on the two-point conversion try but he dropped the ball leaving this a 20-6 game, with 0:15 remaining in the half.

The Red Devils used a De’Aire Summerall to Anthony Wallace 20-yard pass to set up their next score which came on an 11-yard run from Glass. McLendon would be sacked by Bufford Da’vaughn on the two-point conversion leaving this a 26-6 game, with 9:27 left in the third act. The drive would total 52-yards and take 7-plays.

Dotstry would make a sweet one-handed falling interception in the endzone to keep end a 76ers scoring threat, with 3:27 left in the third. The pick was the best I have witnessed this season. After a 20-yard run from Glass, the 76ers defense would stop any other damage with Damarco Sellers stopping Black for a 3-yard loss being the biggest play. The last score of the game would come from a safety when Niquiveir Watkins tackled Jordon in the endzone, with 0:59 seconds left in the quarter to make this a 28-6 game

The fourth quarter was mainly ruled by each team’s defense. Jatieze Howard would stop McLendon on a scramble when the Red Devils were trying to convert a fourth down. The biggest offensive play of the quarter came on a Harris to Alijah Toles 33-yard completion. Malik Ali would get to Jordan for a loss of a yard and then then the final big play in this one came when Robin Briggs of the 76ers stopped Black for a loss of four.

Unofficial stats

Red Devils

68 plays

237 yards

Passing, 15-24 2 TD’S

76ers

62 plays

259 yards

Passing, 7-22 1 TD, 2 Int’s

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