Franklin College football earns comeback win

Down by a pair of touchdowns on the road in the fourth quarter, the Franklin College football team put its previous struggles behind it on Saturday and summoned some magic.

Braden Smith hooked up with Cole Daab for a 17-yard touchdown pass with 38 seconds remaining and then called his own number on the two-point conversion that gave the Grizzlies a 29-28 triumph over Rose-Hulman.

Franklin (2-3, 1-1 HCAC) got into an early 14-0 hole and was still behind, 28-14, as the fourth quarter began. But the visitors got to within seven when Smith hit Landen Gessinger for a 6-yard score on fourth and goal with 11:23 on the clock, and after two more defensive stops by the Grizzly defense, Smith got the ball back in his hands at the 3:57 mark.

The Engineers had a chance to answer after Franklin pulled ahead for the first time, but they were unable to get into field goal range before time expired.

The Grizzlies had climbed out of the earlier 14-point hole on a Smith touchdown run and a 36-yard TD throw to Gessinger, the latter coming with 11:30 left in the third quarter. But Rose-Hulman scored twice before the end of the period, re-establishing its two-touchdown advantage.

Franklin’s defense didn’t surrender a point over the final 17:23 of game time.

Smith passed for 263 yards and three scores, getting intercepted once. Daab was his top target on the day, corralling seven receptions for 141 yards.

Brayton Shannon and Aaron Black had eight and seven tackles, respectively, for the Grizzlies, who will play a homecoming game against Anderson this Saturday.