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The Franklin County Rebels beat the Lawrence County Wildcats 31-30 on the road Friday for their second win of the season.

The Rebels led by as many as 20 points in the contest and held off a late rally attempt from the Wildcats to keep their playoff hopes alive going into the last week of the regular season.

Franklin County head football coach Tracy Hayworth said the victory was a little too close for comfort, but it was a good win nonetheless.

“Of course, I’m very happy with the win and very proud of how hard we fought, but gosh, I just wish we wouldn’t make it so close,” he said, adding later: “We’re finally learning how to finish a game.”

The Rebels drove all the way down the field on their opening possession as the 51-yard drive ended in quarterback CJ Seals sneaking the ball across the goal line from a yard out. Loui Arellano added a successful point-after attempt to make it a 7-0 game less than three minutes into the contest.

The next two drives ended in punts before the Wildcats broke off a 50-yard touchdown run and successfully converted on a two-point attempt to take an 8-7 lead with 2:17 left in the first quarter.

The Rebels answered back quickly as Eric Jones found the end zone on a 23-yard scoring run to put Franklin County in front by a 14-8 margin on the first play of the second quarter.

The Wildcats then drove down to Franklin County’s 5-yard line on their next possession, but the Rebels’ defense stepped up and forced a turnover on downs to keep the lead intact.

Ethan Farris carried the ball to midfield for the Rebels on the next snap, and a couple passing plays brought the Rebels inside of Lawrence County’s 20-yard line, but penalties caused the drive to stall and ultimately led to a punt.

However, the Wildcats fumbled on the very next play with Jones recovering the loose ball at Lawrence County’s 10-yard line.

Farris scored a rushing touchdown two plays later and also scored on the two-point conversion attempt that followed to put the score at 22-8 with 1:53 left in the first half.

The Wildcats had another fumble on their next drive with Jaden Dority making the recovery for the Rebels in the final minute of the half.

The Rebels capitalized on the turnover once again as Seals connected with Jones on a touchdown pass to grow the deficit to an even 20 points with 21 seconds remaining in the second quarter.

They led 28-8 at halftime.

The Wildcats opened the second half with a seven-minute, 79-yard drive which ended in a touchdown run to put the score at 28-16 midway through the third quarter.

The Rebels took the ball down to around Lawrence County’s 10-yard line on their first drive of the half before settling for a 25-yard field goal from Arellano which split the uprights to make it a 31-16 game in the opening seconds of the fourth quarter.

The Wildcats then put together another touchdown drive, but the Rebels held them out of the end zone on the two-point conversion that followed, placing the score at 31-22 with 7:22 to go.

Following a punt from the Rebels with 3:42 remaining, the Wildcats quickly moved down the field with a 38-yard rushing touchdown and a two-point conversion bringing the lead down to a single point with 2:47 left in the contest.

The Rebels were able to recover the onside kick that followed and ran off as much time as they could, but they were forced to punt again and gave the ball back to the Wildcats with 51 seconds on the clock.

Combined sacks from Zaelyn Smith and DaShuan Reynolds pushed the Wildcats back on first and third down and forced them to spike the ball on second down to save time, but a penalty for excessive celebrating on the Rebels did stop the clock prior to the fourth-down play.

On fourth down, Dawson Sowers knocked the ball out of the hands of Lawrence County’s quarterback on a strip sack, and Austin Meaker recovered the fumble for a game-clinching turnover with 18 seconds left.

The Rebels took a knee to run out the rest of the clock as they got the victory by one.

With the win, the Rebels improved to 2-7 on the season and 2-3 in regional play.

They will next play Thursday at home against Spring Hill High School. Kickoff is scheduled for 7 p.m.

The Rebels can secure a playoff berth with a win against Spring Hill and with a Columbia Central victory over Lincoln County on Thursday.