Glenelg came to Franklin for Friday night's Class 3A state semifinal with a ground game that gained over 3,500 yards so far this season.
However, stopping those had been one of the Indians' strong points this season, and Franklin did it again versus the Gladiators.
No. 5 Franklin shut down the Gladiators' vaunted running game, while Josh Turner ran for two touchdowns, Michael Gibson added another, and Larry Smith threw for one more as the Indians rolled to a 30-7 victory over No. 14 Glenelg.
Franklin (11-1) advanced to the Class 3A state title game on Dec. 1 or Dec. 8 against Damascus at Navy-Marine Corps Memorial Stadium at 7 p.m.
That date will be determined after the Midshipmen play this weekend. If they need to host their conference championship game next weekend, the state title game is moved back one week.
This will be the third time in four years the Indians have made it to the state finals. They won the Class 3A state title in 2013 and 2014 before losing to Dundalk in last year's region final.
The Indians allowed only two rushing touchdowns this season until Seth Taylor scored on a 1-yard run with 20.6 seconds left. Franklin held Glenelg (10-3) to just 109 yards rushing — 71 of which came on the final drive.
"That's been one of our strong points this year," Franklin coach Anthony Burgos said. "We felt like if we could stop the running game and force them to throw, we would be in good shape."
Franklin stopped Glenelg running back Wande Owens, who ran for 2,449 yards in the team's first 12 games. Owens averaged 7.4 yards per carry with 28 touchdowns this season but gained only 43 yards on 20 carries.
The defense repeatedly swarmed around Owens when he tried to run. He simply had nowhere to go as the Indians put in a fifth linebacker and often had eight players in the box, so Owens drew plenty of attention.
"They [took] away what we do best," Glenelg coach Butch Schaffer said. "They were a tremendous football team."
Franklin also got plenty of help on offense. Gibson ran for 85 yards on just three carries and caught six passes for 92 yards.
Turner rushed for 74 yards on nine carries with his two scores, and Smith — who alternates with Turner at quarterback — completed six of 14 for 86 yards and the touchdown.
Glenelg did a good job on punting early, pinning the Indians inside their 5-yard line on the first two possessions. But Franklin drove for touchdowns on each and a quick 14-0 lead.
The Indians went 94 yards the first time, capped by Gibson's 40-yard run, in which he found traffic after getting the hand-off, bounced outside and raced down the right sideline for a touchdown and a 7-0 lead with 5:02 left in the first quarter.
They made it 14-0 on the following drive, in which Smith threw an 18-yard touchdown pass to Assanti Kearney with 7:55 remaining in the first half. That wrapped up a 97-yard drive that took up nearly five minutes.
"We came out and ran the football well," Turner said. "We started out fast. We wanted to set a tone early."
Glenelg lined up for a 43-yard field-goal attempt in the second quarter, but a fumbled snap killed that.
The Gladiators then recovered fumbles twice in the first part of the third quarter, but again could not drive. They surrendered a safety when a punt snap sailed over the kicker's head and out of the end zone midway through the period and gave Franklin a 16-0 lead.
The Indians then scored on the next drive after Aronne Dutton's long return of the free kick. Turner ran for touchdowns on the team's next two drives, for 2 and 6 yards, respectively, for a 30-0 fourth-quarter lead.
•514
| G | 0 | 0 | 0 | 7 | — | 7 |
| F | 7 | 7 | 9 | 7 | — | 30 |
F—Gibson 40 run (Soriano kick)
F—Kearney 18 pass from Smith (Soriano kick)
F—Safety, snap goes out of end zone
F—Turner 2 run (Soriano kick)
F—Turner 6 run (Hermann kick)
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G—Taylor 1 run (n/a kick)
