FRA stays unbeaten thanks to strong rushing attack in win over BGA

The Franklin Road Academy Panthers (8-0, 4-0) used its big-play running game and stout defense to defeat the Battle Ground Academy Wildcats 39-14 Friday night.

Panthers running backs Michael Hassell and Cam Glenn gashed the Wildcat defense all night. The pair combined for five of FRA’s six touchdowns in the game. Hassell finished with three and Glenn scored two.

The game marked just the third time the Wildcats gave up more than 28 points this season. But the success on the ground did not come as a surprise to Panthers head coach Justin Geisinger.

“Our guys never had any doubt from the standpoint of, any offensive coach can tell you, you have to establish something of run game, regardless of where their strengths lie,” Geisinger said. “I am just proud of our guys this year. We have been able to rely on that and a lot of other guys have contributed …One side needs to be picked up or one back needs to be picked up, we’ve been able to do that.”

Geisinger added that both Hassell and Glenn average over 10 yards a carry on the season.

The Wildcats (6-2, 2-2) clawed within 11 when junior quarterback Kaedyn Marable tossed a touchdown to sophomore Fletcher Fields with 9:57 left to play in the game. 

But BGA's final nail in the coffin came when the Panthers converted a 3rd-and-27 in their own territory on a hook-and-ladder play from Charlie Speed to Jayden Rush for a huge gain all the way to the red zone. Hassell scored his third touchdown two plays later from 3 yards out to make the score 32-14.

“When you’re behind the chains, it’s really hard to convert,” Geisinger said. “Our kids executed the play. We saw some things on tape with third-and-long situations and their coverages. We implemented that call this week, and the kids executed it brilliantly.”

The Wildcats, on the other hand, failed to execute its high-powered offense for much of the game. Marable was sacked three times and failed to take advantage of opportunities to move the ball.

BGA failed to convert on two FRA turnovers in the first half — a T.O. Otey interception on the Panthers first drive and a fumble recovery late in the first quarter.

“Missed opportunities, we didn’t execute, and we just didn’t block and tackle well enough,” BGA head coach Bobby Bentley said. “We picked a bad time to not block and tackle, and that has a lot to do with who we were playing. We have got to go back to work and get better.”

Franklin Road Academy, however, capitalized on two BGA miscues in the second quarter. First, after a turnover on downs, the Panthers got a big run from Hassell, which set up a touchdown two plays later when the junior picked up a fumble and ran into the end zone with 8:30 left to play in the second quarter to make the score 6-0.

Fields fumbled on the next BGA play from scrimmage, and two plays later, Hassell scored again on an 8-yard option pitch to make the score 12-0, which held until halftime.

FRA’s other second-half score came from an 8-yard touchdown pass connection between quarterback Roman Mahlerwein and tight end Gavin Gadsey midway through the third quarter, which made it 19-0.

Glenn also added two fourth-quarter touchdowns, including the final score, a 14-yard run with 1:42 left to play to make it 39-14.

BGA's only other score came in the third quarter when Marable ran in a quarterback keeper to cut the lead to 19-7.

Both teams have a bye next week before closing out the regular season with two region games. FRA will host an undefeated Christ Presbyterian Academy, who defeated them twice last season in route to a Division II-AA championship, on Oct. 25 and Pope John Paul II on Nov. 1.

“Tonight we're going to enjoy this one and will be getting on that,” Geisinger said. “It’s not foreign to anybody, that they're really good football team. They are going to be prepared, and if they’ve got good players all over the field."

BGA will host The Webb School in two weeks before traveling to Goodpasture Christian to close out the regular season.