SHORT GAP, W.Va. — No. 2 Frankfort won the battle up front, and left Frankfort Stadium with a 45-14 victory over No. 4 Northern on Friday.
“That’s a nice win, nice Homecoming win,” Frankfort head coach Kevin Whiteman said. “I thought the kids played hard, they executed, they were focused. Sometimes you worry about when you come in for a Homecoming game, they’re gonna lose their focus. But I thought they played really well in all three phases.”
The Falcons (4-0) won in the trenches, led by an offensive line consisting of Caden Whitacre, Brayden Shipway, Bryer Michaels, Daniel Marley, Lane Lease and Jett McCullough.
“We got beat where we thought we might, at the line of scrimmage,” Northern head coach Phil Carr said. “We’re not used to being on the grass, then you got a slippery field, then you’ve got a big offensive line. This is more conducive to their style of game. It’s power football, come right at us.”
The unit set the tone on Frankfort’s opening drive. After the Huskies (2-2) went three-and-out, the Falcons took over on their own 29.
Frankfort went on an 11 play, 71-yard drive that was capped off with a four-yard touchdown run by Julian Pattison.
The drive lasted six minutes and 17 seconds, putting the Falcons ahead 7-0 after one quarter.
“That’s awesome to set the tone like that,” Whiteman said. “We always pride ourselves in attempting to do that, to churn the clock and have a long drive like that and score. We talked before the game, first time we got the ball, having a methodical drive and scoring, we were able to do that.”
After a short Northern drive ended with an even shorter punt, Frankfort began the next drive at the Husky 39.
Six plays later, Carder Shanholtz took a toss for a 21-yard touchdown.
Shanholtz led the Falcons with 79 yards on seven carries and a score.
After a 20-yard kickoff return by Luke Ross, followed by a 15-yard unnecessary roughness penalty on the Falcons, the Huskies took over on their own 49.
Three plays later, Jacob Nething intercepted a pass over the middle, and took off for a 65-yard pick six.
“That’s awesome, you get a big play like that, it swings the momentum a lot,” Whiteman said. “He made an awesome play on the ball.”
After another Northern punt, Frankfort struck gold five plays into the ensuing drive.
Uriah Cutter fired deep down the right sideline, and Keiton Nester made the catch for a 50-yard gain.
Three plays later, Pattison took a handoff, broke two tackles and scored from the six to put the Falcons ahead 29-0 with 13 seconds left in the first half.
Pattison finished with 11 carries for 66 yards and two touchdowns.
On the ensuing kickoff, Emmitt Lipscomb returned it 73 yards down the left sideline for a touchdown to end the half.
“It’s the first time in a couple years they didn’t kill us on special teams,” Carr said. “We worked really hard on that all week.”
The Huskies went for two after a penalty, but a sack by Pattison kept Frankfort’s halftime lead at 29-6.
Last week against Weir, Frankfort held the Red Riders to 32 yards of offense in the first half.
Against Northern, they did it again, holding the Huskies to 32 yards, all on the ground.
“We’d get that one first down, but then we’d falter each time,” Carr said. “We couldn’t keep the ball out of their hands. On a night like tonight, you know you need to. You know they’re gonna get four, five, six yards a carry.”
The Falcons combined for 197 led by Pattison’s 55 and Shanholtz’s 57.
Frankfort’s opening drive of the third quarter was reminiscent of the opening drive of the first half.
It took five minutes and three seconds, covered 64 yards and lasted 10 plays.
The drive ended on a quarterback sneak by Cutter from a yard out.
Leading 36-6, the Falcons brought in several backups.
On first-and-goal at the nine, Rhett Sensabaugh split the uprights from 26-yards out.
Midway through the fourth quarter, Luke Ross returned a punt 56 yards to Frankfort’s 24.
Five plays later, Evan Graham punched it in from the five.
Ross took a toss and walked in for the conversion to make it 39-14.
The Falcons recovered the ensuing onside kick, and three plays later, Gunnar Bradshaw scored on a 45-yard quarterback keeper.
“We play hard from start to finish,” Whiteman said. “Yes, we’re gonna make mistakes, but we play hard for 48 minutes. We preach that all the time. We have to keep doing that, if we play our game for 48 minutes in all three phases, we’re gonna have a good year.”
Northern’s final drive ended on an interception by Peyton Brittingham.
The Huskies finished with 82 yards of offense, including minus two passing with two interceptions.
“You watch film and see their line and they look pretty good,” Carr said. “And then you get out on the field, they are pretty good. They’re all seniors, we’re starting a couple sophomores. We’re still growing and still learning, but they were better in person than we thought.”
Graham led Northern with 51 yards on 12 carries and a touchdown.
Frankfort combined for 332 yards of offense, including 265 on the ground.
The Falcons held the Huskies to 2 of 8 on third down, while converting 5 of 6 offensively.
Both teams hit the road on Friday at 7 p.m.
The Huskies travel to Hampshire (2-3), who lost 21-13 at Keyser (2-2) on Friday.
The Falcons head to No. 3 Mountain Ridge (3-1), who fell 28-23 to Frederick on Friday.
“It’s gonna be another big game for us,” Whiteman said. “That’s always a tough game, we haven’t beaten Mountain Ridge since 2019. The kids know that, some of these kids have been on the field the last three years we’ve lost that game. They’re really excited about the opportunity to try to get a victory.”