The Franklin County High School boys soccer team beat the Warren County Pioneers 4-1 at home on March 26 for the team’s fourth win of the season.

Franklin County took the lead late in the first half and pulled away after halftime to clinch the second district win of the week for the program.

Franklin County head soccer coach Kent Bean said that his players performed particularly well in the second half of the contest.

“There’s some things in the first half that I felt we could have done better,” he said, adding that his team primarily needed to clean up some small mistakes and mental errors on the field. “In the second half, I thought they basically fixed all the things we talked about at halftime, did a really good job and closed that game out.”

Franklin County was awarded a penalty kick with 33:14 remaining in the first half after Edber Perez got taken down in the goal box, and Perez successfully found the net on his attempt to give Franklin County an early 1-0 lead.

The Pioneers scored their lone goal of the day with 24:08 left in the first half to tie the score at 1-1.

The Pioneers were then awarded a penalty kick with 2:46 remaining in the first half, but the attempt bounced harmlessly off the front of the crossbar to keep the game tied.

Franklin County retook the lead about 30 seconds later as a crossing pass from Giovanni Mendez found the feet of Gezer Hernandez right in front of the net with Hernandez tapping the ball across the goal line to put his team in front. It was the third goal of the season for Hernandez.

Franklin County led 2-1 at halftime.

Franklin County’s lead doubled about five minutes into the second half as Perez received a long free kick from Giovanni Mendez in the goal box and headed the ball into the net to make it a 3-1 game. It was the second goal of the day and the sixth of the season for Perez.

The final goal of the contest was scored with 18:40 remaining as Giovanni Mendez launched a long free kick which went directly into the back of the net to push the lead up to 4-1. It was the second goal of the season for Giovanni Mendez.

Franklin County held the Pioneers off the board for the rest of the contest as the team secured a three-goal victory.

With the win, Franklin County improved to 4-4 on the season and 2-1 in district play.

Franklin County 3, Columbia 2

The FCHS boys soccer team beat the Columbia Central Lions 3-2 on the road on March 24 for the team’s third win of the season.

Franklin County jumped out to an early lead in the game and held off a late rally from the Lions as the victory brought the team’s district record up to .500.

Franklin County’s first goal came about two minutes into the contest as Perez fired a shot into the net after receiving a pass from Giovanni Mendez to make it a 1-0 game.

Franklin County led 1-0 at halftime.

The lead for Franklin County increased with about 26 minutes remaining as Harrison Crenshaw redirected a corner kick from Giovanni Mendez into the net to put the overall score at 2-0. It was the first goal of the season for Crenshaw.

The Lions scored a goal with about 10 minutes remaining to cut the deficit down to 2-1 late.

However, Franklin County pushed the lead back up to 3-1 with about five minutes to play as Perez scored off of a free kick for his second goal of the day and his fourth of the season.

The Lions recorded a goal in the final minute of the contest to make up some ground, but Franklin County held them off from there to win by one.

With the win, Franklin County improved to 3-4 on the season and 1-1 in district play.

The boys soccer team will next play Tuesday at home against Lincoln County High School. Kickoff is scheduled for 7 p.m.