TOPEKA -- As James Franklin was being bombarded by television, radio and newspaper reporters, a group of Olathe North students waited patiently to hoist the star running back in the air.
And for good reason.
The Eagles’ senior ball carrier had just rushed for 269 yards and three touchdowns to lead his school to a 37-3 victory against the Wichita Heights Falcons on Saturday at Washburn’s Yager Stadium.
“This is an amazing achievement,” Franklin said. “It just feels great standing here on the field holding the game ball after winning a state championship.”
Franklin helped Olathe North capture its first state title since 2003 and eighth since 1996.
“This was our goal all year,” Franklin said. “The offensive line did a tremendous job.”
And it didn’t take long for his offensive line to create some big holes.
Franklin set the tone early by carrying the ball on Olathe North's first three plays from scrimmage.
That's all he needed as Franklin capped the drive with a 25-yard TD run at the 10:55 mark of the first quarter.
By the end of the first quarter, Franklin already had 122 yards rushing.
“It’s all about getting him going,” Olathe North coach Pete Flood said. “It helped us a lot by getting him rolling early.”
The Eagles kept things rolling in the second quarter when junior quarterback Victor Simmons took advantage of the defense’s focus on Franklin with several nice option keepers, capped by a 15-yard touchdown at the 3:21 mark of the second quarter to take a 14-3 lead.
Franklin added a 5-yard TD run to go up 21-3, then added the exclamation point with a 68-yard touchdown sprint on a direct snap out of the Wildcat formation. The run gave the Eagles a 28-3 lead at the 5:26 mark of the third quarter.
There was no doubt, the battle of the two run-first teams was dominated by Olathe North.
The Eagles outrushed the Heights Falcons 343-63.
Heights was really never able to get anything going as it was limited to 107 yards of total offense.
Falcons running back Dreamius Smith led the way with 70 yards on 13 carries.
One of the highlights for Heights was senior James Gallardo’s wind-aided 82-yard punt that pinned Olathe North at its own 3-yard line in the first quarter. The punt led to great field position for the Falcons and their only points of the game on a 28-yard field from senior Chris Farley to make it a 7-3 at the 11:04 mark of the second quarter.
The loss ended what was still a successful season for the Falcons. It was Heights’ first state championship berth in school history and it came in a season where the Falcons began with a 1-3 record.
It was the opposite type of season for Olathe North as it finished with a 13-0 record and claimed the title after starting atop the Class 6A rankings.
“I’m just so happy for this program and community,” Flood said. “It takes hard work to get to this point.”
And for Franklin, it was a fitting end to a spectacular career at Olathe North. Franklin finished high school with 5,703 rushing yards, eclipsing NFL running back Darren Sproles’ career mark earlier this season.
“You can tell the excitement,” Franklin said as he was gripping the game ball ever so tightly. This was our goal the whole year, and we got it.”
Moments later, members of the student body carried Franklin around the field with the football held high.
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