Seahawks edge Wewa, eye Port St. Joe

For the first time in eight years, and for only the fifth time in 18 games, the Franklin County Seahawks downed rival Wewahitchka Friday night 21-14.

“I think it’s monumental. I don’t have a kid on the roster who’s beaten Wewa. It’s been two four-year cycles since we beat Wewa,” said Seahawks Coach John Cooper. “There are a few teams on our schedule we play year in and year out. Theirs is a very storied program that has had success. We have a few rivalry games, and Wewa is a good rivalry for us. We can start evening up the series with them in the future.

“I think it’s a huge win for our program,” he said. “Wewa is a physically strong team, and does a lot of things right, and this brings us huge momentum.”

Now sporting a 6-1 record, the win on the Gators’ home field ensures the Seahawk program will finish with only its second winning season in school history.

Friday night’s victory capped a hard-fought contest against Adam Edwards’ Gators.

Early on, the Seahawks were able to enter the Wewa red zone, and eventually tried a field goal, but junior Alex Narine’s kick hit the uprights and fell short.

Near the end of the first quarter, junior Eric Smith broke a long run that set up senior Michael Hill’s three yard touchdown run. When Narine nailed the extra point, the Seahawks led 7-0 after the first quarter, and that’s the way it would stay until halftime.

Wewa stormed out of the gates in the second half, with freshman Landon Whitten rushing into the end zone from two yards out. The two-point conversion was thwarted by Franklin County, which now was clinging to a 7-6 lead.

On the subsequent kickoff, Wewa went for an onside kick, which ricocheted off a Seahawk and was recovered by the Wewa kicker.

The Gators kept driving against the Seahawks but didn’t punch through until about three minutes left in the quarter, when senior Tyran Williams scored on a 12-yard touchdown gallop. Following the two-point rushing conversion by sophomore Tucker Addison, Wewa now had the edge 14-7.

The fourth quarter opened with a big play early on when Wewa recovered a Franklin County fumble and had good field position on Franklin County’s 47-yard line.

But Franklin County’s defense forced a number of tackles for loss, and turnovers on downs, until with about eight minutes left to play, Smith broke away for a 49-yard rushing touchdown. His team trailing by one 14-13, Cooper decided to settle for Narine’s extra point, and a tie game 14-14. “I had all the faith in Alex,” he said.

Both the Gator’s Tyran Williams and Seahawk senior Preston Butler had tackles for loss, but it wasn’t until a memorable play late in the fourth quarter that the tie would be broken.

Wewa tried to catch a punt but it got away from the receiver, and that’s when Seahawk junior center Brayden Brown scooped it up and ran it 40 yards.

With time running out, Smith would score the go-ahead touchdown on a fourth-and-one, and Narine would nail the extra point.

Ahead 21-14, the Seahawk defense buckled down and stymied the Gators to earn the win.

Overall, Franklin County gained 193 yards on 33 carries, led by senior Ajaylen McNair, with 77 yards on eight carries, with one 23-yard kickoff return; and by Smith, who ran 64 yards on eight carries, and scored a pair of touchdowns. Hill tallied 36 yards on nine carries, and one touchdown.

Senior Ta’marion Carr ran six times for 10 yards, and had a 46-yard kickoff return.

He also caught a 17-yard pass from senior quarterback Garyson Millender, who was two-for-three passing for 34 yards, and rushed once for eight yards. 

The defense was led by junior Michael Miller, who had three solo tackles, four assists, a forced fumble and a sack; freshman Maddox Shaw with three solos, seven assists and half a sack. Smith had four solos and three assists; Hill three solos and six assists; junior Bennett McNair four assists; Butler four assists and a half sack; Carr two solos and four assists; and senior Kaiden Lewis five assists

Cooper said his team remains the underdog against Port St. Joe, despite Franklin County having a 6-1 record going into the game compared to the Tiger Sharks’ 2-4. “To be honest with you, Port St. Joe is an amazing program,” he said. “They have two of the best two linebackers we’ll face. We almost have to play perfect to have a chance. For us we’re just about getting better and realizing there’s life after the regular season. We’re just trying to get better.”

“For us we’re the underdogs no matter what the record is,” said Cooper. “We’ve never beaten Port St. Joe. Mentally we’re the underdogs and mentally is what we have to overcome. We have an underdog mentality.

“We have kids who haven’t experienced wins over certain teams,” he said. “I’m very excited for this week, it’s high school football is at its best.”

The team practiced on Monday, despite the guys being out of school for Columbus Day.

“Practice is the key,” Cooper said. “Compared to last year we are a way better practice team and teams that are pretty good at practice are pretty good at the games.

“I am absolutely proud of our kids and coaches and our program. It’s not my program, it’s not their program, it’s Franklin County’s program and I’m proud of it and what it’s turning into.”