Union Mills, Ind – On an evening when the Frankfort Hot Dogs’ defense struggled, its offense came out on fire – and they did not have to wait long to get on the field.
The Dogs took over on their own 48-yard line 9-seconds into the game – the result of a bad long snap to the South Central Satellites quarterback on the game’s first play. The ball deflected directly to the on-coming rusher, Ramsey Mitchell, who covered-up the loose ball.
One play and 12-seconds later, the Hot Dogs were on the board after Riley Goodnight raced 52-yards on an end-around that saw the junior running back cut back up-the-middle out running two South Central defenders. The two-point attempt failed and the early 1st quarter score was 6-0.
“Riley was a monster,” said Hot Dog Coach Jame Byers. “Sam (Michael) threw the ball so well. Getting Cam (Swinford) back and working him in as wide receiver has been really beneficial. Kyle (Earl) had some huge catches. Jade (Ayers) had huge catches.”
One such “huge” catch made by Ayers came during the opening drive of the second half. With a second-and-five, Coach Jewell, FHS offensive coordinator, called for a hitch-and-go to be thrown to Ayers. The pass was set-up by a fake pass motion by Michael, freezing the South Central defenders, allowing Ayers to run past the deep defenders. The outcome was a perfectly thrown strike to Ayers in full stride ending in a 31-yard touchdown. Goodnight added a two-point conversion run making the score, 34-11 with 10:35 left in the third quarter.
Regarding the touchdown pass to Ayers, Byers said, “He (Ayers) called that hitch-and-go that we threw for the touchdown. He had been asking for it all game.”
Those would end up being the final points of the game for Frankfort and would mark the awakening of the Satellites offense.
And, their offense all came from quarterback Brady Glisic. Glisic scored three times in the third quarter on runs of 16, 55, and 35-yards, bringing South Central to within 3.
However, Frankfort’s defense came to life in the 4th quarter generating two huge stops.
“I was proud of our guys,” said Coach Byers. “Proud of the resilience they showed. Proud of the grit they showed. And honestly, I was proud of the way they responded to a tight game.
“Had we played better early, we would not have put ourselves in that position, but we got into that position and our defense had not played well all night and I talked to them on the sideline.
“And I said, ‘Fellas, you guys are going to make a huge stop to win this ballgame.’ And, they came back. The two drives we made stops on – are the last two drives of the game. So for those guys to pick their head’s up when they knew they had not played well – believed in each other, played hard, and make the big plays when needed – it was incredible.”
The 34-31 win moves the Hot Dogs to 3-2 on the season.
Offensively the “monster,” Goodnight, finished with 216-yards on 32 carries, scoring one touchdown on the ground and one from the air.
Reece Mitchell added 63-yards from the ground on 2 carries of which 62-yards came in the 2nd quarter when the Hot Dogs found themselves pinned on their own 2-yard line after a Satellites punt. With 40.8 seconds left in the half, Mitchell took the hand-off from the half-back position and sprinted down the middle of the field. That play set-up a Michael to Goodnight 7-yard touchdown pass with 10.7 seconds left on the clock, increasing the lead going into halftime, 26-11.
Michael threw to 5 different receivers for a total of 177-yards, on 16 of 27 attempts with three touchdowns. Michael also rushed for 51-yards on 9 carries and 1 touchdown.
Ayers led all receivers with 7 catches for 106 yards and a touchdown and Earl hauled in his first touchdown reception of the season in the first quarter on a 12-yard slant over the middle.
Gabe Chavez once again led the defense, with Ramsey Mitchell adding another fumble recovery and Reece Mitchell making some big plays on 4th down stops. Ramsey, along with Vlad Carreas Lantigua, Charlie Garcia, and Ethan Cook provided the pressure on the final defensive stand to win the game. Bryce McDonald and Ivan Duarte had the pass breakup that sealed the win for the Hot Dogs.
The Dogs are back in action this Friday against Sagamore Conference foe the Western Boone Stars (2-3, 2-1) who come to Frankfort for a 7 p.m. kickoff after most recently defeating North Montgomery 38-16.
Buyers talk about Western Boone: “They are big and strong and physical. Their fullback is huge. They are going to give him the ball a lot and he’s going to be a workhorse for them and we’re going to have to figure out a way to stop him. The quarterback is a good athlete, throws a really good ball. Even though they had some really, really good talent graduate, they still have some really tremendous players there. We are going to have a big task in front of us.”
Scoring Summary
At SOUTH CENTRAL – Union Mills, Ind
SATELLITES 31, HOT DOGS 34
Frankfort:12:14:8:0:-:34
South Central:3:8:20:0:-:31
Scoring Summary
1st Qtr (11:39) Frankfort. Riley Goodnight 52-yard run. Two-point attempt failed. 0-6.
1st Qtr (7:44) South Central. Trent Hudspeth 30-yard field goal. 3-6.
1st Qtr (4:17) Frankfort. Kyle Earl 12-yard pass from Sam Michael. Two-point conversion failed. 3-12.
2nd Qtr (5:12) South Central. Brady Glisic 16-yard run. Dylan Hale pass from Brady Glisic, two-point conversion good. 11-12.
2nd Qtr (3:17) Frankfort. Sam Michael 6-yard run. Riley Goodnight run, two-point conversion good. 11-20.
2nd Qtr (00:10) Frankfort. Riley Goodnight 7-yard pass from Sam Michael. Two-point conversion failed. 11-26.
3rd Qtr (10:35) Frankfort. Jade Ayers 31-yard pass from Sam Michael. Riley Goodnight run, two-point conversion good. 11-34.
3rd Qtr (8:03) South Central. Brady Glisic 16-yard run. Trent Hudspeth kick good. 18-34.
3rd Qtr (8:03) South Central. Brady Glisic 55-yard run. Two-point conversion failed. 24-34.
3rd Qtr (0:35) South Central. Brady Glisic 35-yard run. Trent Hudspeth kick good. 31-34.
