BY ANDREW FAISON/CONTRIBUTING WRITER

andrew.faison@yahoo.com

FRANKLIN—The Franklin Broncos on Friday night defeated visiting Altavista Combined School 41-11 in the quarterfinal round of the Virginia High School League Group A Division 1 state championship playoffs.

“God is awesome,” said Franklin Head Coach Darren Parker. “My hats off to Altavista. They’re a great team. You saw two great teams on the field tonight.”

The Broncos came into the game as the No. 1 seed for the Eastern section playoffs and improved to 13-0 overall while the Colonels came in as the No. 4 seed and ended their season at 10-3.

The Broncos will host the lowest seeded team from the Western section playoffs at 2 p.m. Saturday, Dec. 1, at Armory Field for the semifinal round of the state playoffs.

“We are going to enjoy this win the rest of this weekend and then we’re going to get back work on Monday because we don’t know who we have next week,” Parker said. “We just want to make sure we continue to execute.”

Leaders for the Broncos were senior Travis Brown who had 23 carries for 188 yards. Sophomore Marcus Stephens added 10 rushes for 57 yards and caught an interception for a touchdown. Senior Javontae Blacknall had 10 tackles; Brown and sophomore Dominque Gainey added seven apiece.

“The kids have worked hard,” Parker said. “The coaches have worked hard, but we just have to keep working.”

The Broncos struck first. With 8:42 left in the first quarter, Blacknall punched it in from 3 yards out to cap off a 10-play, 57-yard drive for the first score. The extra point by junior Angel Padilla was good, making the score 7-0.

The Broncos scored again with 5:38 left in the first quarter. Sophomore LaQuadric Pittman hit sophomore Corey Porter for a 24-yard pass to cap off a four-play, 49-yard drive. The extra point by Padilla was good making the score 14-0.

The Colonels got on the scoreboard with 7:22 left in the second quarter. Walker Allen kicked a 31-yard field goal, making the score 14-3.

On 4th and 1 from the 32-yard line, Brown broke a 20-yard run to get the Broncos out to the 12-yard line. With 4:30 left in the second quarter, Brown found the end zone from 12-yards out to cap off an eight-play, 80-yard drive. The extra point by Padilla was good, making the score 21-3.

The Colonels threatened late in the second quarter with 10 seconds left. Juan Thornhill attempted to float a pass to Demetrius Johnson, but was broken up by Pittman to keep the Colonels out of the end zone.

The Colonels were first on the scoreboard in the second half. With 8:38 left in the third quarter, Thornhill kept the ball for a 2-yard touchdown to cap off a nine-play, 61-yard drive. The two-point conversion by Jacob Easr was good, making the score 21-11.

With 7:40 left in the fourth quarter, Brown broke two tackles to find the end zone from 12-yards out to cap off a six-play, 53-yard drive. The extra point was no good making the score 27-11.

With 3:33 left in the fourth quarter, Brown broke a 24-yard run up the middle to find the end zone to cap off an eight-play, 93-yard drive. The extra point by Padilla was good making the score 34-11.

With 2:38 left in the fourth quarter, Stephens intercepted a pass from Thornhill and returned it for 39 yards for a touchdown. The extra point by Padilla was good, making the score 41-11.