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Dragons earn first win as offense erupts against Franklin

Warren’s Aidan Morrison hauls in a 12-yard touchdown pass to end the third quarter of a game against Franklin at Franklin High School, Friday, Sept. 8, 2017. The Dragons defeated the Knights, 44-34, for their first win of the season.

FRANKLIN – Third time’s the charm

At least, that’s how the Warren football season has played out to this point. Following two lopsided losses to Brookville and Grove City, the Dragons came out of Franklin with a 44-34 win Friday.

“I’m happy for the kids,” Warren coach Mark Morelli said. “There were some expectations going into the first game, and then we lost. They showed a different side of the Warren Dragons tonight.”

Warren wanted to get the offense going immediately, electing to receive after winning the coin toss. The Dragons marched down the field, going 76 yards in 10 plays as quarterback Jake Kupchella plunged in from the 1 to put the Dragons up 7-0 less than four minutes into the game.

The defense, which had given up more than 100 points in two games, stopped Franklin on fourth down at the Warren 46 to put the ball back in Kupchella’s hands.

Warren got a bit of a break on a pass to Ryan Arnold. It appeared as though a Franklin defender had stolen the ball away, but Arnold was ruled down and the drive continued. Two plays later, Kupchella scrambled 16 yards on a broken pass play to give the Dragons a 14-0 advantage midway through the first quarter.

“Jake is smart enough to use his athleticism to keep drives going,” Morelli said.

Franklin responded with a methodical 14-play, 65-yard drive that saw Ian Haynes match Kupchella’s 1-yard sneak for the Knights’ first points.

Warren didn’t waste anytime responding.

Kupchella found Arnold on a post just three plays into the ensuing possession. Arnold broke away from a defender, then went streaking down the sideline to give the Dragons a 20-7 lead with eight seconds to play in the first quarter.

“We found some things in film study that we thought we could exploit,” Morelli said. “We wanted to mix it up a bit.”

The Dragons didn’t waste anytime getting things going in the second quarter.

Kupchella intercepted a Haynes pass on the first play, and three plays later waltzed into the end zone on a bootleg to put Warren up 27-7.

The Knights answered with another long drive. This time they used 13 plays to go 74 yards. This time running back Brendon Gordon ran in from four yards with just under seven minutes to play in the half and the Knights trailing 27-14.

Warren’s offense stalled a bit at that point, and the Dragons were forced to punt for the first time. The Dragon defense again answered the bell as Chris White put pressure on Haynes on a third-and-two play, forcing the sophomore quarterback to throw the ball away.

Warren got into Franklin territory on the next possession before the drive stalled. Seth Harrington got off a 40-yard punt that bounced on the Franklin 20, then rolled all the way down to the five before going out of bounds.

The Dragons were able to force another Franklin punt and got the ball back with just over a minute to play in the half. They got inside the Knight 20, but a pair of penalties pushed them back and forced a field goal attempt with five seconds to play in the half. Harrington’s 31-yard attempt was blocked and Warren took a 27-14 lead into the locker room.

The defense forced a Knight punt on the first possession of the second half and a bad snap gave the Dragons possession on the Knight 15.

The first bit of adversity appeared in the form of dehydration as Kupchella was still getting fluid treatment to start the half, forcing Micah Passmore to take over at quarterback. Passmore was able to guide the Dragons down to the Franklin 11, but was sacked on fourth-and-six to give the ball back to the Knights.

“We had to overcome some mental things and some cramps,” Morelli said. “We had our depth tested a bit.”

The defense rose to the challenge once again as on the next play, Aidan Morrison intercepted a Haynes pass at the Franklin 48 and returned it 28 yards to put the offense right back on the field.

The Dragons got down to the eight, but had to settle for a Harrington 23-yard field goal to stretch the lead to 30-14 with 5:18 to go in the third quarter.

Franklin began picking up the pace on the next drive, needing only seven plays before Zachery Baughman rumbled 21 yards, mowing over a pair of defenders on his way to the end zone. The score put the Knights in striking distance at 30-20.

Warren answered with a methodical drive of its own.

With Kupchella back under center, the Dragons went 68 yards in 10 plays and Kupchella scrambled a bit before finding Morrison in the corner of the end zone for 12 yards and a 37-20 advantage at the end of the third quarter.

Franklin picked up the scoring pace even more.

Facing a third-and-fifteen, Gordon busted down the right sideline for a 78-yard touchdown run to put the Knights right back in it, 37-27.

Warren needed just two plays to answer as Marvin Bryant broke free down the left sideline for 68 yards to push the advantage back to 17.

“We’re learning how to respond,” Morelli said. “We didn’t do that the first two weeks.”

The Knights marched right back down the field, going 70 yards in just six plays, capped by a Haynes six-yard pass to Dalton Buckley.

Warren looked like it was about to score again, getting down to the Franklin 15. A lengthy conversation by the officials determined Noah Myers had fumbled on the play and the ball was recovered by Franklin.

On Franklin’s first play following the turnover, Andrew Egger blew through the Knight line and sacked Haynes for a 7-yard loss. A screen pass to Baughman on the next play got all that yardage back and then some as the big back ran for 22 yards. Franklin got a break on a fourth-and-ten play as it appeared Haynes’ pass to Buckley was either incomplete, or a fumble, as the ball came out at the end of the play. The officials determined Buckley had completed the catch and was down before the ball came out, keeping the drive alive.

The Knights marched all the way down to the Dragons 20 and had another fourth down play. This time, Haynes lost the ball trying to pump fake. Baughman picked it up, but was swallowed by the Dragon defense, giving Warren the ball with 2:44 left in the game and a chance to close it out.

The Knights forced the Dragons into a fourth-and-one at their own 43. Following a timeout, Kupchella went with a hard count and multiple Knights jumped offsides, allowing the Dragons to run the clock out and go home with a 44-34 win.

“We showed some fight tonight,” Morelli said. “Good teams find a way to win and tonight we found a way.”

Kupchella led the offensive attack, going 8-16 with 131 yards and two touchdowns passing, plus another 48 yards and three touchdowns on the ground. Myers was again the Dragon workhorse, gaining 210 yards on 26 carries.

“Noah’s running like a man possessed,” Morelli said. “He has really blossomed, but I know he’d be the first to give the praise to his offensive line.”

Arnold led the receivers with four receptions for 89 yards and a touchdown.

The Dragons take on Meadville next Friday.

– – –

Score by quarters

Warren 20 7 10 7 – 44

Franklin 7 7 6 14 – 34

Scoring summary

First Quarter

8:47 W-Jake Kupchella 1 run (Seth Harrington kick)

6:40 W-Kupchella 16 run (Harrington kick)

1:37 F-Ian Haynes 1 run (George Coon kick)

0:8.3 W-Kupchella 51 pass to Ryan Arnold (2pt failed)

Second Quarter

10:52 W-Kupchella 1 run (Harrington kick)

6:39 F-Brendon Gordon 4 run (Coon kick)

Third Quarter

5:05 W-Harrington 23 field goal

2:28 F-Zachery Baughman 21 run (2pt failed)

0:00 W-Kupchella 12 pass to Aidan Morrison (Harrington kick)

Fourth Quarter

11:04 F-Gordon 78 run (Coon kick)

10:38 W-Marvin Bryant 68 run (Harrington kick)

9:21 F-Haynes 6 pass to Dalton Buckley (Coon kick)

Team stats

Rushing: Warren-48-385-4, Franklin 42-254-3. Passing: Warren 8-16, 131, 2 TD, Franklin 11-34, 175, TD, 2 INT. Receiving: Warren 8-131-2, Franklin 11-175-1.

Individual stats

Rushing: Warren-Noah Myers 26-210, Marvin Bryant 11-124 TD, Jake Kupchella 7-48 3 TD, Micah Passmore 4-3; Franklin Brendon Gordon 17-183 2 TD, Zachery Baughman 14-70 TD, Noah Turk 4-10, Alex Salyer 2-2, George Coon 1-9, Ian Haynes 1-1 TD, Bryce Murphy 1-(-3), Team 2-(-18). Passing: Warren Kupchella 8-16, 131 2 TD; Franklin Haynes 11-34, 175 TD 2 INT. Receiving: Warren Ryan Arnold 4-89 TD, Alex Anderson 1-14, Aidan Morrison 1-12 TD, Kohl Nosel 1-9, Andrew Davidson 1-7.

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