In the final game of the season, the Bellwood-Antis junior high football team couldn’t stop the Johnny Franco show in falling to Bishop Guilfoyle 36-0 at BG’s Pleasant Valley field on Thursday afternoon.
Franco, son of Tyrone head football coach John Franco, returned the opening kickoff 90 yards for a touchdown to set the tone for the rest of the game.
Played in a mud bowl at the Marauders field behind the Bishop Guilfoyle, the Bellwood-Antis defense was able to hold everybody else to 30 yards or less, but couldn’t contain Franco, who also scored from scrimmage on runs of 34, 33, three and 55 yards to spark the Little Marauders (7-2) to a season-ending victory.
Bellwood-Antis finishes their season 3-5-1, after losing three in a row to begin the season 0-3.
“We stopped everybody else, but we weren’t able to handle Johnny Franco,” said Bellwood-Antis junior high coach Charlie Burch. “It was a disappointing end to what had been a promising season. We need to build on the positives. These kids were 0-6 last year and started this season 0-3, but then came back to win three and tie another game. They were learning how to win. On a positive note, the eighth graders finished 7-1-1. We enjoys the kids this year and are already anticipating next year. With a lot of hard work, these kids can get better than they are now. This years seniors on the varsity team were only 4-5 as ninth graders. The rest is up to them.”
