Rebels top Spring Hill, clinch playoff berth
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The Franklin County Rebels beat the Spring Hill Raiders 39-22 at home Thursday for their third win of the season.
The Rebels scored two touchdowns in the last two minutes of the first half to take control of the scoreboard, and they remained comfortably in front the rest of the way for a regional victory to close out the regular season.
The Franklin County win and a Columbia Central victory over Lincoln County Thursday allowed the Rebels to clinch a playoff berth for the third straight season.
The Rebels took the lead on the opening drive of the contest as Ethan Farris recorded a 10-yard touchdown run and Loui Arellano added a successful point-after attempt to put the score at 7-0 with 7:45 left in the first quarter.
Following a punt from the Raiders on Spring Hill’s first possession, the Rebels drove down the field again with Farris crossing the goal line for another rushing score from a yard out to make it a 13-0 game with about a minute remaining in the opening period.
A Spring Hill fumble was recovered by Franklin County’s DaShuan Reynolds at midfield, but the Rebels ultimately turned the ball over on downs to end the ensuing possession.
The Raiders broke off a 70-yard touchdown run on the next snap to cut the lead down to 13-7 with eight minutes left in the first half.
The Rebels then turned the ball over with a fumble near midfield, and the Raiders scored another touchdown on the ensuing possession to take a 14-13 lead with 3:46 to go in the half.
Willie Cobb gave the Rebels some momentum on the kickoff that followed as he ran the ball down to Spring Hill’s 32-yard line.
The excellent field position turned into another scoring drive as Farris carried the ball into the end zone from 12 yards out for his third rushing touchdown of the contest. The score gave the Rebels a 19-14 edge with 1:50 remaining in the second quarter.
Eric Jones stepped in front of a pass for an interception to give the Rebels the ball back at Spring Hill’s 44-yard line with nine seconds left in the half, and on the next snap, quarterback CJ Seals scrambled and found a wide-open Jones down the field for a touchdown pass as time expired in the second quarter.
The Rebels led 25-14 at halftime.
The first two drives for the Raiders in the second half ended in punts, but both times, the Rebels turned the ball right back over via interceptions.
The Raiders drove past midfield on their third drive of the half before the Rebels made a defensive stop with a turnover on downs.
The Rebels then had their own trip into enemy territory, but their possession stalled out and they ultimately had their own turnover on downs in the first minute of the fourth quarter.
The Raiders brought the ball inside of Franklin County’s 20-yard line on their next drive, but the Rebels made another big defensive stop on fourth down to get the ball back at their own 10-yard line.
On the next play, Kai Baker took a direct snap and broke free for a 90-yard touchdown run to give the Rebels a 32-14 advantage with 5:36 remaining.
The Rebels got the ball back quickly as Cobb intercepted a pass over the middle to give his team the ball at Spring Hill’s 38-yard line.
Jones scored on a 31-yard touchdown run a few plays later to boost the lead up to 39-14 with just four minutes left in the contest.
The Raiders then drove down and were able to score a rushing touchdown with 1:16 remaining to make it a 39-22 game, but the Rebels recovered the onside kick that followed and ran out the rest of the clock to win by 17.
With the win, the Rebels improved to 3-7 on the season and 3-3 in regional play.
They will next play on Nov. 3 at Page High School in a first-round game for the Class 5A state playoffs. Kickoff is scheduled for 7 p.m.

