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King dismantles Franklin, 40-6, heads to Ford Field to face Lowell in Division 2 final
Dearborn – Saturday afternoon’s matchup at Dearborn High had top-ranked Detroit King take on the Livonia Franklin Patriots in a Division 2 semifinal.
Both had made their way through the playoffs with relatively little resistance.
At stake for the winner was a trip to Ford Field and the annual state finals during Thanksgiving weekend. King easily claimed a spot downtown with a 40-6 victory.
King will play Lowell (12-1) for the title on Friday at Ford Field at 1 p.m.
King started fast, taking control early on. On the second play Armani Posey threw a 52-yard touchdown pass to senior Donnie Corley.
“It felt good to get that up there, it set the tone early and it gave our offense and the whole team momentum,” Posey said.
King never looked back after that point and was in complete control all afternoon.
Senior running back Martell Pettaway was a huge factor in controlling the clock and the game for King. He rushed 16 times for a total of 146 yards and two touchdowns, including a 45 yarder.
“I told my O-line we’ve got to dominate and push the ball downfield and that’s exactly what they did all game,” Pettaway said.
“Pettaway made tough runs and he made runs when we needed them. Those are things that he’s been doing all year,” King Coach Dale Harvel said.
By the 3:08 mark of the first quarter, King was up 20-0.
King (13-0) used three quarterbacks throughout the game, but only passed when needed for a total of six passes – two for touchdowns. Posey started the game and senior Martinez Adams Callaway along with sophomore El-Julian Jordan also took some snaps.
Franklin (9-3) was forced to start most drives deep in their territory, making it that much more difficult to get back into the game in cold and snowy conditions.
Franklin sophomore running back Jacob Clark had some good runs for his side, but went out at halftime. He rushed eight times for 68 yards, including two big runs of 30 and 41 yards.
Kings defensive line got penetration many other times, including two tackles on Clark for negative yardage that brought his total lower than what it could have been. Adams rushed the ball 16 times for 39 yards including a touchdown from the one yard line.
Franklin coach Chris Kelbert said it was a good season for his guys and they could build on their successes heading into next season.
“It’s a great high school football team over there,” Harvel said.
“We’re a very young team, we only have 12 seniors. The new goal of Franklin is to be in this position and that’s the bar that’s been set and the next group is going to have to reach it.”
While Franklin sets its sights on gearing up for next year’s campaign, King awaits to find out who they’ll play downtown next weekend.
“If we do what were supposed to do once again we have a shot at it, we’ll be right there for a shot to win the title,” Harvel said.
