Lion Kings: Game-winning field goal lifts Franklin to back-to-back state championships

In wild finish to Class 3A Division I title game, Lions get past Brock, 17-14

By Buck Ringgold | Photos/Video by Tommy Hays 

ARLINGTON, Texas - A wild back-and-forth Class 3A Division I championship game came down to a kick.

Cort Lowry easily converted a 20-yard field goal as time expired to lift Franklin to a second straight state championship. The Lions defeated Brock, 17-14, Thursday night at AT&T Stadium, as Franklin won a state title for the second year in a row.

“It’s like we practice every day, field goals at practice every day, and it’s really nothing,” said Lowry, a junior. “I go out there and do that every day, so I just went out there and did my thing.”

Lowry’s kick capped off a 16-play 65-yard drive right after Brock tied the score on a third-down touchdown pass. He also got redemption after missing a 37-yard attempt on the game’s opening series.

“It felt amazing, coming off of that miss,” Lowry said. “I didn’t really doubt myself, because I know I can do it, but making that last one sure did feel good.”

Franklin (16-0) put together the winning drive with 5:54 left on the clock, right after the Eagles tied it at 14-all. The Lions never let the Eagles get the ball again, holding the ball for the next 16 plays.

“That’s Franklin football; that’s what we’re about, is controlling the clock, 3-to-4 yards a carry and you know, it couldn’t come down to a better situation for us,” Franklin coach Mark Fannin said. “We’ve been in that situation, that’s kind of what our philosophy is on offense, and that’s what we preach as a coaching staff, and they did a great job on that last drive.”

On that pivotal drive, Franklin completed a fourth-and-2 from the Brock 35 when sophomore tailback Jayden Jackson got a 3-yard gain to keep the chains moving.

Then, with a third-and-8 from the 30, quarterback Blake Autrey rolled to his left and found Devyn Hidrogo for a 14-yard gain to the 16. It was the only pass attempt the Lions tried the entire night.

And faced with a third-and-1 from the 7, the Lions converted again when senior Bryson Washington bulled his way just inches shy of the goal line.

Brock stopped Franklin on the next two plays, pushing the Lions back to the 3. Franklin then called its final time out with three seconds left, setting up Lowry for the eventual game-winning kick.

“I don’t get real nervous in the games, I don’t,” Fannin said. “I got a lot of trust in these guys, and I had a great feeling that that (field goal) was going to go in and I couldn’t be more proud of Cort.

“It takes a lot; it takes the snap, it takes the hold, it takes the line to block, and it all came together at the right time (Thursday).”

Lowry’s field goal capped a wild sequence of events that started late in the third quarter, with Franklin holding on to a 7-0 lead.

The Lions had stopped the Eagles on a drive by forcing a fumble in the red zone. But moments later, Brock got the ball right back by getting a takeaway of its own.

That led to a 22-yard touchdown run from tailback Reid Watkins, tying it at 7-all with 2:57 left in the third.

It remained tied until early in the fourth. Brock had the ball and had just advanced beyond midfield.

But on a completed pass, Franklin senior defensive back Fragiel Owens grabbed the ball away from receiver Zachary Brewster, as he was being converged by several Lion defenders. Owens immediately made a man miss, shook off another would-be tackler and proceeded to sprint 64 yards into the end zone.

Lowry’s PAT gave Franklin a 14-7 lead with 8:22 remaining.

“That play really, to be honest, Devyn (Hidrogo) is really the reason that play happened; he took it and gave it to me,” Owens said. “And then I was like, I’ve got to go score or something. I took off running, and I had seen the first dude miss and I was like, just off to the races now, so I just scored.”

But Brock answered on the next series. Faced with a third-and-14 at the Lions’ 34, Eagles’ quarterback Tyler Moody threw a deep ball toward the end zone.

Going one-and-one with a defender, Brock’s Brett Tutter elevated high to grab the ball, coming down with the catch for the touchdown. Brody Baker’s kick tied it up at 14-all with 5:59 left.

But the Eagles never got the ball back, as Franklin put together the game-winning drive, ending with Lowry’s kick which split the uprights while sending his teammates into a frenzy.

“Really, it was the clock management and to score when it got really tight,” Jackson said. “The whole offense knew we had to put the ball down the field and it starts with the line really getting blocks, getting a good snap to the quarterback, and getting good blocks and pushing the ball down the field.”

Last season, the Lions won the 3A Division II title, beating Gunter for the championship. Ironically, Gunter won the 3A DII title Thursday in the game which preceded the Franklin-Brock contest.

“I couldn’t be more proud of my kids of how they faced multiple emergency situations (Thursday) and they overcame them,” Fannin said. “And they’ve been doing that all year long, and that’s a straight contribution to these kids that I’ve got on my team right now.

“They’re a special group and I wouldn’t trade them for the world.”

Franklin rushed for 232 of its 246 total yards. Jackson had 146 yards on 24 carries, and he gave the Lions a 7-0 lead on a 4-yard run with 15 seconds left in the first half.

Washington added 87 yards on 26 carries as well, as the Lions ran it 53 times.

Brock - which overcame an 0-4 start to win 11 straight games to make it to Thursday’s title game - finished with 299 total yards; 166 rushing and 133 passing. But the Eagles had three turnovers, and were also 0-for-2 on red zone opportunities.

Moody was 9-of-17 passing for 133 yards and his TD to Tutter. Watkins was the top rusher, going for 76 yards on 14 carries with a TD.

Jackson was named the Most Outstanding Player on offense, while Owens got the same honor for defense.

Even with the exhilarating feeling of having won back-to-back state titles in perhaps the most dramatic way possible, it was still a bittersweet feeling for Franklin’s seniors. Especially Washington.

“I feel good that we won the game, but once I saw that kick go in and I just (felt) sad. … Like, I would never be able to step onto the field with my brothers again, and that just hurt,” Washington said. “It hurt my heart, and I would say that I’m grateful for my team, knowing everything we did for each other, the grind we went through, the struggles, even the adversity we faced.

“We had to pull it off and we did that.”

Here are photos from Thursday's title game in Arlington: