Frankfort – The Southmont Mounties looked to spoil Frankfort’s Senior Night as it took the field in a Sagamore Conference match-up Friday night, Sept 11th.
The Mounties received the kickoff to open the game and drove the ball 54-yards for a touchdown on a 2-yard touchdown pass from Nick Scott to Brady Boller. The extra point attempt was blocked by Hot Dogs’ junior defender Vlad Carreras Lantigua.
The Hot Dogs got on the board in the 2nd quarter after junior defensive back Bryce McDonald intercepted a Southmont pass in the end zone. Junior quarterback Sam Michael led an 80-yard touchdown drive capped off by junior running back Riley Goodnight’s 33-yard touchdown run. The two-point conversion failed. The game went into halftime at 6-6.
“Southmont is an incredibly physical team and they’re incredibly well-coached and we knew it was going to be a struggle,” said Frankfort Head Coach James Byers. “The first-half they kind of controlled the tempo of the game and they controlled the physicality of the game. But our guys stayed with it, they trusted the process.”
And the Hot Dogs demonstrated the trust in the process with the start of play in the second half when senior Jade Ayers took the kickoff 50-yards down to the 20-yard line.
With a 3rd down and 5, the Dogs avoided disaster when a low snap went between the legs of Michael and was quickly scooped-up by Goodnight. Goodnight broke free of a Southmont tackler and rambled 15-yards for his second touchdown of the night.
That opening drive would be the first of five touchdowns scored by the Dogs in the second half en route to a 40-22 victory and are now 2-2 on the season and 1-1 in the conference. The Mounties are now 1-2, 0-2.
Coach Byers shared the process his coaching staff used during halftime to make the offensive and defensive changes. “Coach Pickerell and the defensive staff made some terrific adjustments to get some more pressure. And, Coach Jewell and Coach Chris Keller and Blake Surber and Evan Hall came together and they talked to Sam and Jade and Riley about what they were seeing – what kind of plays they liked and they did a great job making those halftime adjustments and our offense really started clicking and really exploded there in the second half.”
With those adjustments in mind, Frankfort mixed-up its play call during the second half showcasing Michael’s passing ability. Michael connected on 8 of 17 attempts for 143-yards and 2 touchdowns, a 36-yard strike to Ayers, and an 8-yard toss to senior Cam Swinford. Ayers led the receivers with 8 catches for 118-yards, senior Kyle Earl added 2 catches for 9-yards, and Swinford finished with 3 catches for 16-yards.
Byers talked about his quarterback’s play: “Watching Sam mature as a quarterback has been so fun to watch. He looked so comfortable. That is the Sam we see every day in practice – where he is calm and cool and collected. He threw dimes all over the place – I got to sit back and watch him as a fan, it was awesome. He is a special player.”
With the success of the passing attack came more run opportunities for the Dogs.
Goodnight led the Hot Dogs rushing attack with 187-yards and 3 touchdowns (33-yards, 15-yards, 27-yards) on 22 carries. Michael added 102-yards on 7 carries including a 44-yard quarterback sweep for a touchdown.
Defensively Frankfort held Southmont scoreless after the first score until 4:39 left in the 4th quarter when Nolan Boyer scored on a 24-yard run. Boyer added another score on a 19-yard run with 56 seconds left in the game.
“Our defensive staff and our defensive players did a great job again this week of getting in there and learning their system, learning their responsibilities and they are doing what they are being coached to do,” Byers added. “Coach Pickrell, our defensive coordinator, and Coach Keller, Coach Shelly, Coach Dubree did a great job making adjustments in-game, coaching our kids up on the sideline – our defense settled in,” said Byers.
The Hot Dogs were led by senior Reese Mitchell with 18 tackles, Carreras Lantigua added 16 tackles while senior Gabe Chavez and McDonald each had 13 tackles and 1 interception.
Junior linebacker Layne Todd along with Swinford joined forces for a forced fumble and recovery. Todd had 7 tackles and the forced fumble while Swinford added 3 tackles and the fumble recovery.
Prior to the game, the seniors were recognized and Coach Byers talked about the lasting impact this group will have.
“This senior class you cannot say enough about them. We knew coming in, that when they were sophomores, that this group would be special – we knew about this group, this junior and senior group when they were seventh and eighth-graders. So, we told these guys if you stay together, keep working hard – great things are going to come. They suffered through the transition and all that craziness three years ago, the 0-20 [Frankfort’s record past two seasons], and they stayed with it, they stayed positive and kept working hard. My heart goes out to these seniors.
“We would not be in this position without those guys – without their leadership, without their determination, without their families. The reason why Frankfort football is turning around is because we have such great buy-ins from our upperclassmen.”
Frankfort is in action Friday, September 19, when they travel to 1A South Central Satellites (2-2) located in Union Mills. Game time is set for 8 p.m. Eastern – 7 p.m. Central. The Hot Dogs were previously scheduled to play longtime rival the Lebanon Tigers; however, the game was canceled due to COVID-19 protocol with the Lebanon football team.
At FRANKFORT
HOT DOGS 40, MOUNTIES 22
Southmont:6:0:0:16:-:22
Frankfort:0:6:20:14:-:40
Scoring Summary
1st Qtr (7:59) Southmont. Brady Boller 2-yard run pass from Nick Scott. Kick failed. 0-6.
2nd Qtr (7:19) Frankfort. Riley Goodnight 33-yard run. Two-point attempt failed. 6-6.
3rd Qtr (11:06) Frankfort. Riley Goodnight 15-yard run. Two-point attempt failed. 12-6.
3rd Qtr (8:10) Frankfort. Sam Michael 44-yard run. Two-point attempt failed. 18-6.
3rd Qtr () Frankfort. Jade Ayers 36-yard pass from Sam Michael. Jade Ayers pass from Sam Michael, two-point conversion good. 26-6.
4th Qtr (11:26) Frankfort. Riley Goodnight 27-yard run. Two-point attempt failed. 32-6.
4th Qtr (6:56) Frankfort. Cam Swinford 8-yard pass from Sam Michael. Cam Swinford pass from Sam Michael, two-point conversion good. 40-6.
4th Qtr (4:39) Southmont. Nolan Boyer 24-yard run. Kellan Kaelin two-point conversion run good. 40-14.
4th Qtr (0:56) Southmont. Nolan Boyer 19-yard run. Kellan Kaelin two-point conversion run good. 40-22.
