Franklin finishes season strong on come from behind win over Lakeview

In week six of the season, out of necessity, senior Cole Buckley switched from wide out to going under center at the teams quarterback.

The Knights had not won a game since 2021.

The move proved brilliant as Franklin finished the second half of the season 4-1 including a season finale come from behind win over the playoff bound now 8-2 Lakeview Sailors.

The Knight's scored in the first quarter to avenge a Lakeview score on a long drive. When it looked like the Knights might have to punt, Buckley rolled out to his right to avoid pressure and found Dreyden Payne 38 yards later for a big first down.

A few plays later Bryson Watson scored on an 11-yard run. Coach Matt Turk said Watson also came up big on defense at the end of the game for the Knights.
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The Knights did not score again until around the six-minute mark of the fourth quarter when Buckley found himself in some trouble in the backfield and began scrambling backwards to avoid the sack. The ball was snapped at the 10-yard line, but Buckley launched a pass from the 31 to Payne in the back of the end zone for the score.

Nate Pfennigwertth drilled the extra point to put them within a field goal to tie. He didn't miss Friday and has consistently prevented runbacks on kickoffs all season.

Down 17-14, andLakeview with the ball they needed something to happen on defense. They got it.

A bad handoff by Lakeview resulted in a fumble recovery by the Knights  on the Sailors 26 with 4:30 left.

​A series of escape runs by Buckley for a couple firsts downs, a penalty that seemed to hurt, but for Buckley getting some solid blocking for an eight-yard end around for the go ahead score with just over two minutes left.

Pfennigwerths kick put the Knights up by four, 21-17, forcing the Sailors to need a touchdown to win. The Knights held.

"This region has two of the greatest athletes, I think in the state of Pennsylvania (in Oil City's) Ethen Knox and Cole Buckley," Turk said. Buckley had around 200 yards of total offense in the win.

This was by far the best season for a Turk led team finishing 4-6. Their only loss in the last five weeks was against powerhouse Meadville.

The Knights scored some points this year averaging over 18-points a game and they were not shutout.

They lose a lot of seniors this year, including Buckley, but the program finally seeing some success has got to feel good and help the younger players see hope in the future.