FRANKLIN – Going into Franklin-Simpson’s second-round matchup with Madisonville-North Hopkins on Friday in the Class 4A state playoffs, it was no secret that both teams would spend the majority of the night keeping the ball on the ground.

Franklin-Simpson amassed 303 total yards rushing on the night in a 62-6 rout of the Maroons. The Wildcats were without leading rusher Tre Bass for most of the first half, but rode the backs of senior running backs Saul Brady and James Baker, who combined for four rushing touchdowns on the night.

“I have to give all the credit to my offensive line,” Brady said. “They played one heck of a game. You could see the game was really chippy and really scrappy, but the offensive line kept their composure and they kept pushing them downfield. For us running backs, we give it all to them.”

The Maroons– typically a force on the ground—struggled without their top two backs Jariah Hightower and Aaron Miller, finishing with -5 yards on the ground. Hightower went down with a leg injury in the first offensive series and never returned. Miller did not play due to an undisclosed injury.

After a sluggish start from both teams that included two three-and-outs from each side, Franklin-Simpson struck first with a 32-yard sprint for a touchdown from Brady with just over three minutes remaining in the first quarter.

From then on, points began to pour in for the Wildcats.

Early in the second quarter, Madisonville elected to try a fake punt from its own 23-yard line and ran into a wall of defenders, setting up the home team for another quick score, this time a 10-yard run from Baker.

Less than two minutes later, Baker found himself in the end zone again, taking care of the final 25 yards of a two-play, 41-yard drive to put Franklin-Simpson up 21-0. But Baker wasn’t done.

After another Madisonville drive stalled, the Maroons were punting from their own 1-yard line when Baker shot into the backfield, blocked the punt and fell on it for his third touchdown of the half.

“James has done that his whole career,” Franklin-Simpson coach Doug Preston said. “(Baker) was our special teams player of the week last week. He kicked extra points last week because our kicker was out, his junior year he had two huge plays and blocked a punt against South Warren. So it’s not a surprise at all. He’s a special talent.”

Madisonville responded with its first and only productive drive of the night as quarterback Hayden Reynolds snuck across the goal line on a keeper midway through the second quarter.

Brady added another score of his own and Wildcats quarterback Rylan Thomas connected with Jevon Covington for his only completion of the night, a 23-yard score to make it 42-6 at halftime. Thomas finished 1 of 2 passing for 23 yards and a touchdown.

“He’s one of the biggest leaders on the team,” Brady said of Thomas. “We don’t pass the ball a lot. We hand it off, but he respects that and he doesn’t say anything because he’s a team player. He’s a really big captain.”

The momentous vibes from the first half immediately remained in the Wildcats’ favor in the third quarter.

A low-flying punt kicked from the Madisonville 6-yard line found the arms of Franklin-Simpson’s Steven Starks who barreled over a Maroon defender before being taken down at the 5. Franklin Simpson sophomore running back Tedric Partinger added the first points of the second half shortly after, which put the game even further out of reach.

Franklin-Simpson will host Hopkinsville next week after the Tigers ended Logan County’s perfect season Friday by a blowout score of 43-8.

“Of course this time of year you just want to move on if you can, but this is such a special group,” Preston said. “They’re fun and they’re special and they believe in themselves, but more importantly they’re a bunch of really good kids. We’re just lucky to be able to coach them.”

Madisonville-N. Hopkins 0 6 0 0 – 6

Franklin Simpson 7 35 7 13 – 62

First quarter

FS – Brady 32 run (Cole Hollingsworth kick), 3:10

Second quarter

FS – Baker 10 run (Hollingsworth kick), 11:08

FS– Baker 25 run (Hollingsworth kick), 9:30

FS- Baker blocked punt recovered in end zone. (Hollingsworth kick no good), 7:55

MNH– Hayden Reynolds 1 run (2-point conversion no good), 6:28

FS- Brady 11 run (Thomas 2PC good), 4:45

FS- Jevon Covington 23 catch from Thomas (Hollingsworth kick), 29 seconds

Third quarter

FS- Tedric Partinger 7 run (Hollingsworth kick), 7:41

Fourth quarter

FS- Malik Carter 5 run (Hollingsworth kick), 11:50

FS- Gavin Finch 9 run (2PC no good), 54 seconds