PLAYS HOST TO HANCOCK COUNTY
IN THE KHSAA CLASS 3A PLAYOFFS.
WILDCATS’ TYTUS BROWN: ‘OUR GOAL IS TO MAKE A FIVE-WEEK RUN’
FRANKLIN — Tytus Brown is the Franklin-Simpson defensive playmaker, when he isn’t slugging it out in the trenches for the Wildcats’ offensive line.
He’s one of six or seven Franklin-Simpson players who see significant time on both sides of the line of scrimmage, most of them linemen.
Iron men.
Brown is the Wildcats’ senior defensive end/offensive guard, understands the stakes in Friday night’s KHSAA Class 3A first-round playoff game against Hancock County High School. He remembers the disappointment of Franklin-Simpson’s first-round exit last year from the 4A ranks, when visiting Hopkinsville High School struck for a 24-17 upset to eliminate the Wildcats from postseason play.
Franklin-Simpson (8-2) plays host to Hancock County (6-4) in Friday night’s playoff opener at Mathews Stadium, a game that could help define the legacy of Tytus Brown and his fellow Wildcats seniors.
“We don’t want it to end,” Brown said after Wednesday’s practice. “The time’s now. It’s either ‘show up’ or don’t show up again … Our goal is to make a five-week run.
“I think we’re pretty locked in.”
KNOCKS DOWN A PASS AGAINST GLASGOW.
AND HAYDEN SATTERLY HAVE SHINED DEFENSIVELY.
JUST ONE OF THE WILDCATS’ VERSATILE PLAYERS.
Franklin-Simpson won back-to-back KHSAA Class 4A state championships in 2017 and ’18, under former coach Doug Preston. Fourth-year Wildcats head coach Max Chaney likes the makeup of his squad, but he admits lack of depth is a concern as Franklin-Simpson plays for keeps on Friday night.
“The hay’s in the barn,” Chaney said. “We need to finish our drives … with points. We played well against a very good Warren East team last week (winning 24-14). They made some big plays against us on defense … we missed some assignments.
“Hancock County is big up front. They’ll have an advantage there. But we’ve got some tough kids. I think they understand what it takes.”
Brown is the Wildcats’ starting left guard, a 5-foot-10, 210-pound dynamo who made one of the biggest plays in Franklin-Simpson’s season. In a matchup of unbeaten teams on September 29 at Glasgow’s Hank Royse Stadium, Brown snatched the ball from the Scotties’ Mason Arms before scoring on a 40-yard return, all but sealing the Wildcats’ 27-14 victory.
WITH FRANKLIN-SIMPSON’s WING-T OFFENSE.
COULD PUT THE WILDCATS
ON THE ROAD AGAINST UNION COUNTY (9-1).
HAS BEEN A STEADY UNIT IN 2023.
Franklin-Simpson would drop its next two games, first at Greenwood (27-16) and then a 21-18 heartbreaker against unbeaten Hart County, a KHSAA Class 3A, 2nd District opponent. The Wildcats would love to get another shot at Hart County (10-0), but first things first.
The winner of Friday night’s game between Franklin-Simpson and Hancock County will be paired against Union County or Adair County next week in regional semifinal play. Hancock County throws more often than Franklin-Simpson, which looks to dictate the pace with its patented Wing-T attack while controlling the clock.
Senior F-S quarterback Mathias Dickerson has a good arm, but he’s thrown for a modest 659 yards and nine touchdowns this season. Hancock County’s Dylan Morris, meanwhile, has completed 116 of 184 passes (63 percent) for 1,707 yards and 12 touchdowns. Morris has been intercepted five times this season.
AS THE WILDCATS’ HEAD COACH.
“This is the week we’re going to put it all together,” Dickerson said. “This is legacy time. I’m just trying to go deep (in the playoffs) with my guys.”
Junior running back Colin Alexander and senior fullback Gavin Dickerson are the mainstays in the Wildcats’ running game. Alexander has rushed for 589 yards and five touchdowns, while Gavin Dickerson has collected 587 yards on the ground while scoring a team-high 10 touchdowns. Defensively, the Wildcats have playmakers in senior defensive end Tytus Brown (16 tackles for losses, 11 sacks), linebacker Hayden Satterly (a team-high 102 tackles, 10 for losses) and defensive backs Brady Delk and Layne Alford (four interceptions, three fumble recoveries.
Franklin-Simpson coach Max Chaney likes his team’s grit, and Satterly said last year’s loss to Hopkinsville shows how quickly it can all go away.
“We were up 14 points in that game and wound up losing,” Satterly said. “We’re going to do everything we can, to make sure it doesn’t happen again. This team doesn’t quit.”
Chaney believes his team is ready for the postseason.
“They’re bigger than we are, but I think we’re more athletic,” he said. “We need to keep playing complementary football, execute better in key situations. We have the athletes to make a run.
“They’ve just got to trust each other, and play together.”
BACK-TO-BACK STATE TITLES
JUST FIVE YEARS AGO.
AN EXPERIENCED HAND AT QUARTERBACK.
ABOUT THIS COLD SNAP
WE’VE HAD THE LAST FEW DAYS …