DANVILLE — Johnstown could seemingly run at will in its Mid-Buckeye Conference road win at Danville on Friday night, earning 404 of its 424 yards on the ground for a 45-14 victory.
The MBC’s leading rusher, Ross Franklin, proved his mettle again for the Johnnies (5-3, 3-2) with 293 yards on 25 carries. He also had three touchdowns, and teammate Frank Chambers scored twice. The Blue Devils (5-3, 2-3) had a little more than half of Johnstown’s total yards, 215, with 122 rushing and 93 passing. Danville had two interceptions and one lost fumble, and the Johnnies coughed up the ball twice and had 60 penalty yards.
Johnstown scored less than two minutes into the game on Chambers’ 1-yard run with 10:44 to play in the first quarter. Exactly two minutes later, Zach Brewer took off from Blue Devil territory for a 51-yard TD run which with Heath Buckingham’s conversion run, gave Danville an 8-7 lead.
It was the Blue Devils’ only lead, as the Johnnies scored 21 straight points to end the half. Franklin scored his first touchdown, a 2-yarder, at the 4:36 mark of the first period, and Chambers plunged in from 1 yard out with 7:39 remaining in the second quarter. The lead was 21-8 when Franklin took off on a 64-yard TD run with 1:45 left in the half, and Johnstown led 28-8 at the half.
