Hidden Valley outlasts Franklin County in a wild fourth quarter, remain undefeated
Cy Dillon Stadium, Rocky Mount, Va – The Hidden Valley Titans came out on top after an intense fourth quarter scoring flurry, spoiling Franklin County ‘s Home-coming. The Titans and Eagles went into the final quarter notched at 7-7, but it didn’t stay that way for long. On the first play, Titan QB/DB 16 Sam Dragovich connected with WR/DB 20 Joey Strong, who hauled in the TD pass in heavy traffic. The Eagles bounced right back with two RB/DE 27 Jahylen Lee touchdowns. The second of which was made possible by a huge 40-yard interception and return by Eagle WR/CB 13 Jamerise Holland. The Franklin County surge wouldn’t hold up though, as Dragovich would find WR 1 Braxton Dunnings on a 69-yard TD and then LB 5 Max Pardon would come up with a “pick six” to push the lead to 28-21 for Hidden Valley. 
The last part of the game was intense for Titan head coach Scott Weaver, “Those final minutes were just… it was insane. I’m just proud of our kids and happy for our community.” It’s not every day that a Hidden Valley football team reaches 5-0, and in a way, it was fitting that the Titan’s got it against Franklin County, “The last time we went 5-0 was in “05-06” when (Franklin County’s) Coach Edwards was coaching here,” Weaver asserted. “He is not only a great mentor to me, but an outstanding coach. Anytime you can come here and win, that’s special.”
Hidden Valley QB 16 Dragovich slips into the end zone for a score
First Quarter – The Eagles received the opening kick off after warm homecoming 
welcome from the Franklin County students and community. The Eagles began the evening with four big plays. On the first play of the game 27 Lee broke away for an impactful thirty-two-yard rush, followed by a seventeen-yard QB 6 Eli Foutz pass to WR 15 Ian England. After the two quick first downs, the Eagle offense looked unstoppable. Another huge twenty-seven-yard Lee sprint solidified Franklin County was inside the ten. After three rush attempts the Titan defense held the Eagles inside the five, but on fourth down Jahlyen Lee shed three Titan tackles and got the score. After a K 85 Bryson Lempeckski PAT, the Eagles had a 7-0 lead. The Titan offense put together a solid first drive, completing a clutch fourth down pass from Dragovich to Strong. After a Titan holding penalty Hidden Valley would punt but they wouldn’t be without possession for long. The Eagles were steadily progressing, but an unfortunate midfield fumble recovered by Titan DB 11 JB Dragovich would stop their drive and end the quarter.
Second Quarter – Hampered by a missed catch and a formidable Franklin County defense lead by DT 58 Elijah Witcher who nailed QB Dragovitch down for a ten-yard loss, the Titans punted again. The Eagles attacked the Titan defense from the ground but found most of their successfrom the air this time. QB Foutz lasered one thirty-two-yard pass to WR 12 Nasir Holland and another twenty-yard connection with WR 13 Jamerise Holland helping the Eagles reach the Titan ten-yard line. Franklin County’s promising drive would end after a costly holding penalty and bobbled fourth down snap, resulting in Titan ball by turnover on downs. From inside their own ten, the Titans strung together a sweeping ninety-one-yard touchdown drive headlined by a massive sixty-one-yard pass from Titan captain to captain, the second of which being H 15 Ashton Carrol. Dragovich would continue to throw his way to the goal line and cap off the run with a five-yard touchdown scramble. With the K 8 Brody Layman PAT the Titans tied the 7-7.
Franklin County’s QB Eli Foutz zeroes in on an Eagle receiver
After the Titan kick rolled out of bounds and penalty Eagles QB Foutz got to work, picking up two first downs but the drive would end after a deflected Eagles pass found its way into the hands of Titan DB 6 Landon Blackshear a few yards from the Eagles end zone. After a few Titan plays that didn’t get off the ground the clock expired ending the first half.
Third Quarter – The second half opened up to the sounds of whistles and their accompanying yellow flags. Hidden Valley’s first drive contained five them, resulting in the Titan’s only moving the ball two yards before an athletic FS 3 Anthony Belcher interception for the Eagles. Franklin county started the drive strong with a twenty-three-yard Lee carry along with a Titan holding penalty, accelerating the eagles all the to midfield. Their progress would be in vain after the first Titan LB Max Pardon’s two interceptions on the night. Despite the fantastic field position provided by Pardon’s pick, the Titans went three and out in the face of tough Eagles defense and punted the ball away. The Titans defense is tough too. After the Eagles picked up a first down, they too punted the ball away. Aided by two Franklin County pass interference penalties, the Titans pushed the ball to their twenty-nine-yard line finishing out the third quarter.
Ian England bursts through two Titan defenders
Fourth Quarter – The fourth quarter was filled with highlight reel plays, none more so than the first play of the quarter. After falling back into the pocket and stiff arming an Eagle DB to the ground, Titan QB Dragovich peeled off to the right and completed an arching fadeaway pass to WR Strong who was surrounded by three Franklin County players. Despite another Eagles pass interference flag,
WR/DB 20 Joey Strong pulls in a tough touchdown catch early in the fourth
Strong somehow came up with the ball making the score 7-14 after the Layman extra point. After a touchback, the Eagles offense moved the ball to midfield where they were done in by a delay of game penalty while trying draw the Titan line offsides. The Titans went nowhere this drive. Two consecutive Eagles sacks stopped Hidden Valley in their tracks forcing a punt. Franklin county, uncharacteristically gave the ball right back, fumbling on the first play of the drive. Hidden Valley would be stopped again. This time a blocked pass by Eagle OLB 8 Haven Mullins and a holding penalty would slow the Titans down, forcing another punt. From here, the game picked up speed. Eagles QB Foutz and RB Lee made two big plays a-piece and advanced the ball seventy-seven-yards for the game tying score after K Lempeckski’s extra point. Tie game, 14-14. The Titan’s next drive was over before it even started. On the second play, the freshly crowned Franklin County Homecoming King Jamerise Holland snatched Dragovitch’s pass out of the air, returning it all the way to the Titan sixteen-yard line. As Holland returned to the side line he waived the packed Eagles stands to their feet, inspiring everyone in Red to feel the hype in the air. If the fans felt it, the Eagles offense did too. Jahylen Lee picked up the touchdown on his first carry, shrugging off multiple Titan tackles on his way to the house. With the Lempeckski PAT the Eagles were up 21-14 with only three and half minutes to victory. Hidden Valley got the ball on their thirty-one and wasted absolutely no time. Dragovich found WR 1 Braxton Dunnings open on the left sideline. He had the whole field to himself and made it the end zone for a sixty-nine-yard touchdown reception. Hidden Valley couldn’t celebrate yet.
Max Pardon celebrates his game winning ‘pick six’
The extra point was blocked, leaving the Titans down by one with three minutes left. It turns out, that was more than enough time. On the second play of the Franklin County drive, Titan LB Max Pardon grabbed his second, game winning interception. Pardon drove the ball twenty-five-yards into the end zone, dragging a few stunned Eagles with him. Dragovich hit Dunnings again for the two-point conversion and the Titans were up seven, 21-28. There was still time for Franklin county, but luck wasn’t on the home team’s side this Friday night. The kickoff took an awkward bounce leading to a Titan recovery on the Eagle ten. After trading timeouts, Hidden Valley settled for a field goal, but it was blocked again by the tenacious Eagles defense. Unfortunately, the blocked field goal also resulted in a potential serious knee/leg injury for Titan kicker Body Layman, who was taken off the field on a stretcher. On the Eagles last drive, the Titan defense stepped up, stopping the Franklin County offense’s last few pass attempts. The Titans then let the clock expire, sealing their 5-0 season with a huge win over the Franklin County Eagles. – Graham Whitaker
Offense: Rushing – Hidden Valley –Sam Dragovich 12-17 yds 1 TD, DJ Banks 5-7 yds Franklin County – Jahylen Lee 29-182 yds 3 TD, Eli Foutz 6-31 yds
Passing: Hidden Valley – Sam Dragovich 14/24-256 yds 2TD, 2 INT Franklin County – Eli Foutz 14/24-190 yds, 3 INT
Receiving: Hidden Valley – Ashton Carroll 3-90 yds, Braxton Dunnings 2-80 yds, 1TD, Joey Strong 6-78 yds 1 TD, DJ Banks 2-8 yds Franklin County – Nasir Holland 5-102 yds, Ian England 6-56 yds, Jamerise Holland 1-21 yds, Jaemon King 1-7 yds, Jahylen Lee 1-4 yds
Punting: Hidden Valley –5/40 avg. Franklin County– 2/47 avg.
Scoring:
First Quarter –
• Franklin County: Lee 5-yd run: Lempeckski PAT
Second Quarter –
• Hidden Valley: Dragovich 5-yd run: Layman PAT
Third Quarter –
Fourth Quarter –
• Hidden Valley: Strong 29-yd pass from Dragovich: Layman PAT• Franklin County: Lee 20-yd run: Lempeckski PAT• Franklin County: Lee 16-yd run: Lempeckski PAT• Hidden Valley: Dunnings 69-yd pass from Dragovich: PAT failed• Hidden Valley: Pardon 25-yd interception return: Dragovich pass to Dunnings for 2-point conversion