By ANDREW FAISON/CONTRIBUTING WRITER

andrew.faison@yahoo.com

 

FRANKLIN—Undefeated Franklin will host Altavista Combined School at 7 p.m. Friday, Nov. 23, at Armory Field for the quarterfinal round of the Virginia High School League Group A Division 1 state championship playoffs.

The Broncos are the No. 1 seed for the Eastern section playoffs with a 12-0 overall record and are coming off 48-10 victory over Covington in the second round of the playoffs from Nov. 16.

The Colonels come in as the No. 4 seed with a 10-2 overall record and defeated No. 12 seed William Campbell 55-22 last week.

The Broncos have outscored their opponents 656-164 this season, while the Colonels have outscored theirs 462-260.

“We have to throw records out the window at this level,” said Franklin Head Coach Darren Parker. “We just have to concentration on ourselves. We are making sure we are fundamentally sound in all three phases of the game.”

“Once you get into the playoffs everyone is good,” Parker continued. “And we are going to take this round like we do all the others. We are looking forward to executing on Friday night.”

Franklin’s defense will have to repeat last week’s performance — holding Covington to less than 100 yards — to contain Colonels running back Destin Brown who scored three rushing touchdowns last week.

Franklin juniors Terry Warren and Shane Walker and senior Raquan Wright all had sacks last week and will attempt to do the same with Colonels’ quarterback Juan Thornhill. Thornhill ran for two touchdowns and passed for another in its win against William Campbell.

Radio station 101.7 WLQM will broadcast the game at 6:30 p.m.

Franklin Tri-Rivers District rival No. 2 ranked Sussex Central, 11-1, will also play in the quarterfinal round of the playoffs as it hosts No. 3 Lunenburg Central, 11-1. Sussex comes into the game off a 30-14 victory over No. 7 Parry McCluer, which ended its season at 7-5, while Lunenburg comes into the game from a 28-0 victory over No. 6 Colonial Beach, which ended its season at 7-5.