Franklin football will remember being on other side of Fenway over score vs. King Philip
BOSTON - Franklin's football team stood on the top step of the Boston Red Sox dugout.
A highlight video from the Panthers season played on the center field video board. They clapped and said "Let's go!" as it flashed the program's mantra "Row the boat" at the end.
The lights pulsated like when the Red Sox hit a home run as the Fenway Park public address announcer boomed, "And announcing your Franklin Panthers!"
The light show continued, as Franklin burst onto the infield, crossing onto the gridiron. The Panthers made their way over to their bench in center field.
"It's something surreal, looking around, like I'm never going to be out here on this side of a stadium looking at Fenway Park, a place you watch growing up," Franklin senior Jackson Nutter said.
Instead the Panthers were the show Tuesday in their 64th Thanksgiving rivalry game against King Philip.
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"Walking on the field that first moment was like 'We're really here,'" Franklin senior Derek Dubriske said. "It was one of those things you can't recreate anywhere else. You've got to live in the moment."
The Warriors won the toss and wanted the opening kickoff. They took the game over not too much later.
After Franklin forced the Warriors into a three and out on their first possession, King Philip regained the ball after a fumble. Running back Andrew LaPlante took the next carry 31 yards to the end zone and swung an imaginary bat in celebration with 9 minutes, 57 seconds left in the first quarter.
LaPlante carried the ball 10 times for 67 yards and two touchdowns, as the Division 2 Super Bowl-bound Warriors rolled to a 35-0 shutout victory, snapping a two-game losing streak in the series against Franklin. That narrowed the all-time series to 34-29-1 Franklin and gave Warriors coach Brian Lee the 150th win of his career.
"They're a great team, well coached. They're a wagon. They do everything the right way," Franklin coach Eian Bain said. "We're still digging, we're still clawing and have a lot of growing and learning to do."
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King Philip quarterback Thomas McLeish threw for two touchdowns, and lineman/kicker Andrew Bowen returned a fumbled kickoff return 40 yards for a touchdown with 1:10 to halftime after LaPlante's second touchdown run.
The Warriors controlled the clock for most of the second half, salting away most of it with a 14-play drive that spanned the end of the third quarter and the first eight mintues of the fourth.
"The special thing to me was how we bonded through this and got everyone to rally up with each other," Franklin senior Mike Davide said. "I don't think we gave up, and that's really special to me."
Most Franklin players went through the postgame handshake line with tears in their eyes. It was their last game of the season, and for Franklin's seniors the last of their careers. They began their time as Panthers during the 2020 Fall II season the made three playoff appearances, including reaching the 2021 state semifinals.
"It's crazy being here as a senior, last game I'm ever going to play I my life. Everything feels so surreal, but I feel like right now it's hitting me that it's real," Davide said. "I'm never going to forget this moment, never going to forget this with all my boys."
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The score, displayed a story high on the video board, will likely fade from their memories. Photos with their teammates on the field and the experience of being there won't.
"We'll forget the score in six months, and it'll just be about the moment," Bain said.
Contact Kyle Grabowski at kgrabowski@gannett.com. Follow him on X, formerly known as Twitter, @kylegrbwsk.
This article originally appeared on MetroWest Daily News: Franklin football embraces other side of Fenway in loss to King Philip
