FRANKFORT — Frankfort football took one step closer to its goal of reaching the playoffs for a sixth-consecutive season after a 54-6 mercy rule victory against Washington County on Friday night.
“We didn’t play as clean as I would like to,” head coach Nick Anderson said after the game. “But in the Twin Valley League, every game is a dogfight. We knew that coming in, so I’m super proud of them getting the win.”
The Wildcats (2-0) collected 347 yards of total offense before regulation ended late in the third quarter. Their offensive attack was balanced, averaging 6.3 yards per carry and 19.4 yards per reception.
“We know we have skill guys outside and a guy that can sling it around and give them the ball, Anderson said. “(We want to) make teams respect us our ability to run the ball too…if we’re averaging four or five, six yards a carry, that’s enough to make teams respect us.”
Part of forcing the Tigers (1-1) to respect Frankfort’s offense came in the form of jumping on top early. Quarterback Wes Anderson opened the scoring with a 1-yard TD run, followed by a pair of passing touchdowns that gave the Wildcats a 22-0 lead by the end of the first quarter.
“Our guys thrive on emotion,” Nick Anderson said. “When we get a fast start it really helps us and propels us moving forward.”
Frankfort’s lead grew to 36-6 by halftime as Wes Anderson tagged on a couple more passing touchdowns. However, the Wildcats still felt that their performance fell short of their standards.
“Obviously we had the lead at halftime, but I wasn’t overly pleased with how we played,” Nick Anderson said. “I didn’t think Wes was clean and crisp…his decision-making wasn’t as well as it was last week.”
The sophomore saw a final line of 12-of-17 through the air with 233 passing yards, 29 rushing yards, and six total touchdowns but also walked away wanting to be better.
“I was not very crisp today,” he said. “I gotta be way better next week, especially with Lyndon coming into town.”
Even when the offense wasn’t perfect, the defense was able to step up for Frankfort. The Wildcats denied Washington County on 4-of-5 fourth down attempts, setting up the abundance of scoring.
“We had a good game plan,” Nick Anderson said. “We did a much better job on the edge to control their option. We knew if No. 28 (Miles Miller) got the ball on the outside we were going to be in trouble, but I thought for the most part we did a good job.”
A year ago, the Wildcats fell to Washington County 52-30, giving Nick Anderson nothing but respect for the Tigers as he prepared for the matchup.
“Washington County’s got a lot of young talent and they’re gonna be a good ballclub moving forward,” Nick Anderson said. “They did some things schematically, they gave us some fits there for a while, but I thought our kids did a good job of making adjustments.”
Frankfort not only suffered a defeat to the Tigers last fall, but also dropped its first three contests to open the season. As a result, starting strong at 2-0 this season has an increased importance for the Wildcats.
“Last year was kind of rough, so starting this season off on the right foot, it’s definitely a good feeling,” Wes Anderson said.
The Wildcats will look to flip the switch from the past again this Friday as they take on Lyndon who defeated Frankfort 50-0 last fall.
FRANKFORT 54, WASHINGTON CO. 6
Washington Co. (1-1) — 0; 6; 0; —6
Frankfort (2-0) — 22; 14; 18; — 54
SCORING SUMMARY
Frankfort — QB Wes Anderson rush for 1-yard, 2-pt no good (9:01 1Q)
Frankfort — Carter Olson 45-yard pass from Wes Anderson 2-pt good (5:04 1Q)
Frankfort — Lane Louiseau 4-yard pass from Wes Anderson 2-pt good (1:03 1Q)
Frankfort — Lane Louiseau 19-yard pass from Wes Anderson 2-pt no good (7:16 2Q)
WCHS — Miles Miller 11-yard pass from Noah Hoover 2-pt no good (3:10 2Q)
Frankfort — Carter Olson 33-yard pass from Wes Anderson 2-pt good (1:18 2Q)
Frankfort — Lane Louiseau rush for 1-yard, 2-pt no good (8:20 3Q)
Frankfort — Carter Olson 16-yard pass from Wes Anderson, Ole Svae PAT no good (6:02 3Q)
Frankfort — Brock Armstrong rush for 8-yards, (END OF REGULATION)
INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS
RUSHING — WCHS: Miles Miller 4-38-0, Noah Hoover 5-(minus 6)-0.
Frankfort: Lane Loiseau 8-60-1, Wes Anderson 4-29-1, Brock Armstrong 6-25-1
PASSING — WCHS: Noah Hoover 8-14-84-1. Frankfort: Wes Anderson 12-17-233-5
RECEIVING — WCHS: Miles Miller 4-37-1, Gatlin Wilbrant 2-25-0, Gavyn LeDuc 1-18-0, Kale Miller 1-4-0. Frankfort: Carter Olson 4-97-3, Trent Hardin 4-79-0, Brock Armstrong 2-33-0, Lane Loiseau 2-24-2
Box score available online at themercury.com.
