A handful of plays has been the only thing separating Greenwood from its current 1-2 record and a perfect start. The Gators have come out of the gate strong only to give up double-digit leads in the second half.

“If we could just finish the game, we’ll be fine,” Gators senior defensive back Jake Sanson said. “It’s all about executing. If you take out five or six plays, we’re 3-0.”

On paper, a good rebounding opportunity may come against a struggling Franklin-Simpson team at 7 p.m. Friday at James Mathews Stadium. The Wildcats are struggling in their own way by not executing in youthful positions.

But just like the Gators, Franklin-Simpson is 1-2 and just a few plays away from entering Friday night 2-1. Even if South Warren shredded the Wildcats last week 36-7, Franklin-Simpson still presents matchup concerns for Greenwood.

Greenwood hopes that if it jumps out to a lead early Friday that it can sustain it. So far, the Gators can’t seem to close out teams in the second half after holding double-digit leads in the last two games against Warren East and Allen County-Scottsville.

“It’s a tough matchup for us,” Greenwood coach Chris Seabolt said. “There’s no gimme games on our schedule. For our kids, there’s no week where we can have a let-up. We have to come play our rear ends off to play with Franklin.”

Franklin-Simpson leads the series 7-5 since 1998, with last year’s 24-20 win being one of the more exciting games of the 2016 prep football season. Franklin-Simpson held a 17-7 lead before Greenwood rallied to take a 20-17 edge with two minutes left.

Jackson Caudill marched the Wildcats 80 yards down the field and scored the game-winning touchdown with 14 seconds on a pass to Hunter Janes that initially bounced off the chest of Malcolm Johnson for what would’ve been an interception.

Those players have graduated, but Franklin-Simpson still returns a front-seven on defense that gave Greenwood fits last year. Jackson Adams’ 124 yards led Greenwood last year against a Wildcats’ defense with Cade Harvey, James Baker, Dion Pearson and Collin Preston.

“It’s a huge challenge because those guys are back and they stuffed us last year through 3½ quarters,” Seabolt said. “We studied film on them from last season and tried to get our prep team to give us the look we want. At the end of the day, we don’t have a Dion Pearson to simulate the type of player he is and we don’t have a James Baker to simulate the type of linebacker he is.

“There’s going to be that period of adjustment when the game begins to get used to just how big and fast they are.”

Franklin-Simpson’s overall size and athleticism gives them the edge. Along with a big defensive front, Greenwood is keying in on 6-foot-5 wide receiver Jevon Covington. Seabolt said the Gators have used 6-5 defensive lineman Michael Hathaway and 6-4 lineman Brad Herman to work with defensive backs in the end zone to try and simulate the size matchup.

The Wildcats’ defense hopes it can turn the page based on the success it had last year defending Greenwood’s veer offense.

“With the triple option, it’s all about responsibility,” FSHS senior linebacker Cade Harvey said. “Everyone has their job in the triple option and if you try to do too much, that’s when the triple option starts working against you. This week will be helpful throughout the rest of the year because it’ll teach how important it is to stay on your responsibility and trust the rest of the guys on the team to do their job.”

Harvey said Franklin-Simpson is going through some growing pains early in the year against good teams. An experienced group of seniors last year led the Wildcats to an undefeated regular season and state runner-up finish in Class 4A.

“Last year, we didn’t have many bumps in the road,” Harvey said.

But Franklin-Simpson is experiencing that now, and it’s fine as long as the kinks are ironed out by the district opener against Allen County-Scottsville on Sept. 29, according to head coach Doug Preston.

Inexperience in the secondary and not executing is the biggest concern right now for the Wildcats. Preston said players are in position to make the plays, but will only learn by adjusting in a live game setting.

“The effort is there and the physicality is there for the most part, but we’re not executing in different spots in different times,” Preston said. “A couple of sophomores and first-year starters in the secondary. It’s not a blame on anybody, we’ve got to continue to improve there. … I feel like playing good people is going to get you ready. My process over these four or five weeks is that we show improvement and what happens, happens with wins and losses.”{&end}