Powered by a Kentucky recruit, Franklin County sends a message with blowout in opener
With his Franklin County team up 36 points in the early stages of the third quarter Friday night, head coach Eddie James finally took a play off.
The Flyers had just built on an already commanding lead over the Scott County Cardinals in the opening game of the inaugural Battle of Elkhorn Creek doubleheader at Birds Nest Stadium at Great Crossing High School in Georgetown, a game that would ultimately finish 43-14 in Franklin County’s favor.
But with victory virtually assured just past the game’s midway mark, James briefly vacated the sideline.
He wandered behind the Franklin County bench to his family, gathered in the grass near one of the stadium’s floodlights.
He tossed his hat into the circle of people and briefly turned back to the action, only to whip around again when his children called for their father and ran toward him, with James taking a few more plays off to embrace his family.
The scoreline allowed James that moment of laughter and levity in a game that was lopsided.
“I’m just blessed to have my family here, and to be able to share these moments with my kids as they grow up just means the world to me,” James said. “They get to see me, and I spend a lot of time away from them, but they value the impact that we’re having on these young men and that means a ton to me.”
The Flyers, ranked No. 3 in the Herald-Leader’s 4A preseason poll, got ahead of the Cardinals, ranked No. 6 in the Herald-Leader’s 5A preseason poll, in the game’s opening three minutes and never looked back.
Two of Franklin County’s first three plays from scrimmage resulted in touchdowns: a 49-yard run from junior Kaden Moorman was the Flyers’ first offensive play of the season, and on the next drive senior quarterback Jayden Mattison completed a 12-yard pass before then busting loose for a 43-yard rushing touchdown of his own.
Another Moorman rushing score in the first quarter gave Franklin County a 21-0 lead after less than 10 minutes. It was an onslaught of offense from a Franklin County team that graduated two program greats during the offseason in wide receiver Fred Farrier, now at UAB, and quarterback Nick Broyles.
Moorman, one of Franklin County’s current offensive stars, is a class of 2023 recruit who gained scholarship offers this summer from Kentucky and Wisconsin, among others.
Rated as a 3-star athlete by 247Sports, Moorman scored his third and final touchdown of the game with three minutes still remaining in the first half, and he finished with 11 rushes for 89 yards and two catches for 44 yards.
“Kaden’s a special talent, but I’m more impressed with the leader he’s become in our locker room,” James said. “Go watch the film and watch him block people, that says a lot about his character and who he is.”
Meanwhile, Mattison completed 13 of his 17 passes for 213 passing yards and one touchdown, which came on a 65-yard completion to junior Zack Claudio early in the third quarter.
Moorman then ran in from two yards out on a two-point conversion to give Franklin County a 43-7 lead with 10:08 left in the third quarter, and the rest of the game used a running clock.
“We’re not coaching for tonight, we’re coaching for moments down the road,” James, whose Franklin County team lost by three points in overtime of last season’s 4A state title game, said.
Numerical discrepancies littered Friday’s game, including Franklin County’s 376 to 122 advantage in total offensive yards.
But Scott County head coach Jim McKee summed up his team’s showing qualitatively, rather than quantitatively.
“They outplayed us on offense, outplayed us on defense, they outplayed us in the kicking game. They outcoached us,” McKee said. “Everything that you can do that’s a part of a football game, they outed us. Out-hustled us. Out-conditioned us.”
Both Scott County touchdowns came through the return game and through senior Jeremy Hamilton, who took a kickoff 68 yards for a touchdown and a punt 63 yards for a score. Hamilton holds scholarship offers from Cincinnati and Eastern Kentucky.
During a press conference last week, McKee said freshman Andrew Hickey would start at quarterback in Scott County’s Wing T offense, the first time a freshman would do so in McKee’s 25-season head coaching tenure.
But McKee said about 50 percent of Scott County’s game plan Friday was for fifth-year senior running back Campton Martin to operate out of the shotgun running Wildcat plays, a plan disrupted when Martin was injured early in the game.
McKee said Hickey will continue starting for the junior varsity and varsity squads to get experience.
Also during last week’s press conference, James described the upcoming game as a measuring stick for the trajectory of the Franklin County program.
It’s on an upward curve that James almost left.
In January, James briefly said goodbye to Franklin County, his alma mater, to become the head coach at Highlands High School, one of Kentucky’s most storied programs.
But just days later, James withdrew his acceptance of the Highlands head coaching job.
By staying home, James made moments like those from Friday possible, with his family — both actual and extended — able to join in.
“They stood behind me and I’m just so proud of them,” James said of his Franklin County players. “I think it just injects energy into our program and our community to keep getting behind us and rally behind what we’re doing with these guys.”
