When Paul Franklin touches the ball, especially in district play, chances are good he’ll cross the goal line.
Behind his 17 carries for 239 yards, South Oak Cliff defeated Seagoville, 49-35, clinching at least a share of the District 11-4A title.
“We had homecoming this week, a televised pep rally,” coach Kendall Miller said. “In years past, I would have been scared about that, but we don’t let distractions get to us. That shows the character of our kids.”
Seagoville and South Oak Cliff are primarily running teams. Whereas Seagoville chipped away with a stable of backs including Kailion Hughey, Dontrail Russell and Tyler Hatton, South Oak Cliff had Franklin break away.
Franklin ran for gains of 18 and 32 yards in the first half. He caught a screen for a 25-yard touchdown and had two rushing touchdowns. Late in the fourth, he had a 67-yard touchdown run.
Defensively, South Oak Cliff forced four turnovers. Richard Franklin had a fumble recovery and an interception.
It could have been worse for Seagoville, though. Two weeks ago, against Adamson, Paul Franklin scored on each of his carries. He finished that game with five carries for 200 yards and five touchdowns.
Seagoville forced him to mix it up a little on Friday night, but not enough. South Oak Cliff got its district title, and Franklin helped the Bears earn it, just as he has all season.
“Every time I get past the first level of defenders,” he said, “I believe I can score every time.”
— Mark Dent
Waxahachie 30, Ennis 24
ENNIS — Devin Walker’s interception ended a drive by Ennis (2-7, 1-6 District 15-4A) with 25 seconds left in the fourth quarter as Waxahachie (8-1, 7-0) rallied from a 21-16 halftime deficit to win 30-24 on Friday night.
Running back Robert Lowe Jr., who scored twice in the fourth quarter on runs of 44 yards and 1 yard, led the Waxahachie comeback. He made 2-point conversion and finished with 18 carries for a team-high 126 yards.
Ennis’ Terence Williams ran for 137 yards, and Nicholas Gabriel had a pair of rushing touchdowns.
Wylie 23, Richardson Pearce 14
RICHARDSON — Wylie took one more step toward making the playoffs by defeating Richardson Pearce, which was eliminated from playoff contention.
Kameron Kelly threw two touchdowns — both to Krishna Maharaj — and finished 14-of-19 for 163 yards. Maharaj had seven catches for 102 yards.
Corey Coleman, who had 121 yards rushing, scored on a 75-yard run in the first quarter to give Pearce a 7-3 lead.
Rhett Svetgoff completed 11 of 19 passes for 129 yards with two interceptions, the last one — with 59 seconds remaining — sealed the victory for Wylie.
West Mesquite 28, Red Oak 17
MESQUITE — Darrius Payne-Edwards rushed for 140 yards, and Kameron Miles scored two touchdowns on the ground for West Mesquite (4-5, 4-3 District 15-4A).
Red Oak (4-5, 3-4) led 17-7 early in second quarter, but West Mesquite held Red Oak scoreless in the second half.
Pinkston 46, North Dallas 20
Jacob Balderas and Cordell Young combined for 230 yards rushing and four touchdowns to lead Pinkston (1-8, 1-5 District 11-4A) to its first win of the season at Jones Field.
North Dallas (1-8, 1-5) was led by quarterback Adrian Arthur, who threw two touchdowns.
Royse City 14, Mount Pleasant 9
ROYSE CITY — Royse City (3-6, 3-2 District 13-4A) topped Mount Pleasant (3-6, 1-4) to clinch a playoff berth.
Royce City quarterback Wes Brookshire rushed 20 times for 82 yards and a score. He threw for 107 yards after completing seven of his final 11 passes in the second half.
Conrad 20, Hillcrest 7
Silas Jefferson gained 198 yards on 28 carries and scored three rushing touchdowns to lead Conrad (5-5, 3-3 District 12-4A).
Jonathan Small had two interceptions for Conrad.
Wylie East 59, McKinney 27
WYLIE — Wylie East (7-1) looked in top playoff form as it dominated McKinney (0-8). Running back Jabari Anderson rushed for 256 yards and four touchdowns, including three in the first half, to pace Wylie East.
Anderson’s 63-yard run broke the game open at 21-7 early in the second quarter.
Wylie East quarterback Garrett McCain threw for 253 yards and two touchdowns, including a 33-yard strike to Marcel Ateman, to make it 42-14 just a minute into the third quarter.
Jonathon Shannon had 122 rushing yards to lead McKinney.
Carter 20, Adamson 8
The defense of Carter (2-7, 2-4 District 11-4A) was too much for Adamson (3-6, 3-3) as linebacker Courtney Arnick had 12 tackles and kept constant pressure on Adamson quarterback Keith Jackson. Adamson managed only 53 rushing yards on 34 attempts.
Carter’s Corey Avery rushed for 98 yards and a touchdown on 12 carries.
Bryan Adams 51, Spruce 15
SEAGOVILLE — Quarterback Josh Brown completed 28 of 41 passes for 347 yards and six touchdowns to help Bryan Adams (5-4, 4-1 District 12-4A) clinch a playoff spot.
Janarius Warren led Dallas Spruce with two rushing scores.
Corsicana 49, Forney 31
Cameron Washington, who rushed for 241 yards on 21 carries and scored four first-half touchdowns, led Corsicana (9-1, 7-1 District 15-4A ).
Quarterback DeVontay Bell threw for 108 yards and a touchdown, and wide receiver Christian Hines caught five passes for 127 yards and two touchdowns.Forney (2-7, 1-6) was led by Clayton Chadwick, who rushed for 114 yards on 17 carries.
Lancaster 49, Terrell 18
LANCASTER — Nick Harvey threw four first-half touchdown passes as Lancaster (7-2, 5-2 District 15-4A) rallied past Terrell (2-7, 0-7) to clinch a playoff spot.
Harvey threw scoring passes to Nick Alexander, Joseph Paden, Dominique Martin and Jaquan White.
Denison 28, Greenville 24
DENISON — Clifton Hines threw two touchdown passes to Quamie Bush and ran for another as Denison (2-7, 1-4 District 13-4A) defeated Greenville (0-9, 0-5) at Munson Stadium.