Published: October 11, 2008 01:36 am            

Frankston rallies to top Troup

FRANKSTON — With his team trailing Troup 14-3 at halftime, Frankston head coach Sam Wells didn’t mince words.

“I told them they were shooting themselves in the foot the whole first half,” Wells said. “It was us beating us.”

The Indians responded with two field goals, a touchdown pass and an interception return for another score as they rallied to defeat Troup, 24-14, in the District 19-2A opener.

Frankston quarterback Bryan Blackwell completed 3-of-5 passes for 85 yards, including a 21-yard touchdown to Coby Coleman, and ran for another 15 yards in the second half. Senior running back Ketrich Harmon rushed for 61 of his 105 yards in the second half, junior running back Detrick Smith picked up 22 of his 57 rushing yards and returned an interception 35 yards for a touchdown in the final two quarters.

“I told them to relax and play football,” Wells said. “That’s what happened. They made the plays and controlled the clock. The kids played their tails off.”

But perhaps the biggest stats came from kicker Justin Bergstrom.

Bergstrom kicked field goals of 44, 47 and 28 yards to give the Indians a much-needed boost.

“He’s a great kicker,” Wells said. “He’s the best kicker in East Texas.”

Frankston (1-0, 4-2) fell behind in the second quarter when Troup converted a pair of fumbles into 14 points on back-to-back possessions.

But the Indians began to climb back into the game late in the second quarter, putting together their first sustained drive to get to the Troup 27-yard line, where Bergstrom put them on the scoreboard with a 44-yard field goal with 1:38 left in the half.

They kept it going in the third quarter, taking the opening kickoff and marching to the Troup 31, where Bergstrom nailed his 47-yard field goal to trim the lead to 14-6 with 9:11 to go in the quarter.

The Indians defense forced the Tigers to punt their next possession and then turned to its passing game. On second-and-6 at the Frankston 28, Blackwell hooked up with Coleman on a short crossing route and the big tight end turned it into a 52-yard gain before being forced out at the Troup 20.

After the Tigers defensive line turned back a pair of rushing attempts, Blackwell went back to Coleman on the same play, this time resulting in a touchdown on third-and-11 from the Tiger 21. Blackwell pushed his way into the end zone for the two-point conversion, tying the game at 14-14 with 3:23 left in the third quarter.

The Indians took the lead with 4:41 left to play when Smith stepped in front of a pass from Troup quarterback Tyler Davis and intercepted the ball at the Tiger 35, running it in for the go-ahead touchdown. Bergstrom’s point-after kick put Frankston up for good, 21-14.

Frankston put the game out of reach moments later when Blackwell, at safety, made a one-handed interception of another Davis pass at the 45-yard line and returned it to the Tiger 15-yard line. The Troup defensive line held, but Bergstrom easily kicked a 28-yard field goal to set the final score at 24-14.

Picking up the come-from-behind win in the district opener should help with momentum heading into next week’s game at West Rusk, Wells said.

“It was huge,” Wells said. “This was one we needed to win. This makes four (wins) in a row now.”





Troup (0-1, 2-4) 0 14 0 0 — 14

Frankston (1-0, 4-2) 0 3 11 10 — 24



Troup — Cody Lepelley 48 pass from Tyler Davis (Patrick Alonzo kick)

Troup — Derrikk Thompson 19 run (Alonzo kick)

Frankston — Justin Bergstrom 44 FG

Frankston — Bergstrom 47 FG

Frankston — Coby Coleman 21 pass from Bryan Blackwell (Blackwell run)

Frankston — Detrick Smith 35 interception return (Bergstrom kick)

Frankston — Bergstrom 28 FG



Troup Frankston

First downs 7 12

Rushes-yards 28-60 40-182

Passing yards 59 85

Total yards 119 267

Comp-Att-Int 2-9-2 3-9-1

Punts 5-30.2 3-32

Fumbles-Lost 3-2 3-2

Penalties-Yards 5-40 7-65



INDIVIDUAL LEADERS

RUSHING — Troup: Lepelley, 11-43; Keandre Davis, 8-22; Caleb Gibson, 2-10; Derrikk Thompson, 2-5; Tyler Davis, 5-22. Frankston: Ketrich Harmon, 17-105; Smith, 10-57; Blackwell, 12-17; Phillip Bruno, 1-3.

PASSING — Troup: Tyler Davis, 2-9-2-1-59. Frankston: Blackwell, 3-9-1-1-85.

RECEIVING — Troup: Keandre Davis, 1-48; Taylor Beaty, 1-11. Frankston: Coleman, 2-73; Kyle Tatum, 1-12.

        

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