Franklin High School head football coach Darren Parker told the Broncos Friday night to “bend but don’t break” on defense. That is exactly what Franklin did.

Windsor piled up 369 yards of total offense for the game, but scored just 12 points.

It was Franklin’s red zone defense that made the big plays. On Windsor’s second drive of the game, Franklin dropped Brookly Presson for a 7-yard loss on a fourth and goal from the Franklin 8. On the Dukes next drive, Lacurt Boone made a huge play to sack Windsor QB Qwamane Harris on a third and goal from the six, to move Windsor back 10 yards. In the third quarter, Windsor had the ball on the Franklin 10 and could not score.

Meanwhile Franklin had 493 yards of offense with seven different players carrying the ball.

“We had a lot of kids that just stuck in there,” Parker said. “They bent a little, but when it came down to it, we didn’t break.”

– Windsor had a memorable season, the best in a long time, and finished at 6-4.

The Dukes proved that they could roll up yardage and points. After the loss to Franklin, which knocked the Dukes out of the postseason, Windsor head coach Bruce Carroll sat all alone on the bench with his head down.

Although it was a tough loss, Carroll and his staff should be proud of turning around a dismal program in 2006. I remember watching Windsor play Sussex Central in 2006 and getting blown out.

It looked like Windsor was playing in slow motion. This year, Windsor turned the tables on Sussex and several other teams that stomped the Dukes a year ago.

– A particular plus for Windsor was the development of quarterback Qwamane Harris, who took his lumps as a sophomore starter in 2006. Harris had much more poise and confidence this year, and added a new dimension to the Windsor offense. The combination of Harris to Ryan Acey was big all year for the Dukes. Harris, who at times looked unsure of himself in 2006, will have one more season to show his stuff.

– The Chowan University men’s basketball team kicks off its 2007-2008 season with a home game at 7:30 p.m. Thursday against Queens University. The women’s team opens its home schedule on Nov. 27 against Morris College.

JEFFREY J. Zeigler is a contributing writer to The Tidewater News. His sports column appears weekly. His e-mail address is jzeigler@hotmail.com.