Columbus East’s Keaton Lawson looks for room to run during a sectional game against Franklin Friday at Columbus East High School.
Tommy Walker | For The Republic
Columbus East had no answer for Franklin running back Alex Leugers the entire game Friday night.
Leugers powered and outran his way through the Olympian defense to unofficially rush for 327 yards and four touchdowns to give the Grizzly Cubs a 42-17 sectional semifinal victory.
East (6-4) got the first score of the game when a punt return by Jared Brooks put the starting drive at the Franklin 9-yard line. A couple play later, quarterback Kyson Villarreal kept it for a 1-yard sneak to put the Olympians ahead 7-0 with 6:44 left in the first quarter.
All it took was one play and 17 seconds for the Grizzly Cubs (4-6) to tie the score. Blown coverage by the Olympian secondary let quarterback Greyson Betts find Cade Petty for a 65-yard touchdown pass to tie it 7-7.
Leugers scored the next two touchdowns for Franklin, one for 66 yards and the other from 57 yards to put them ahead 21-14 with 8:06 left in the second quarter. Sandwiched inbetween the touchdowns was an East score when Villarreal powered for another 1-yard touchdown run.
The Olympians threatened toward the end of the first half. Villarreal found Keaton Lawson for a 36-yard pass to put it inside the 20-yard line with less than a minute left. After East burned two timeouts trying to run the ball, it set up third down. Villarreal found Brooks for a first down at the 2-yard line. After they spiked the ball, a Skylar Bailey 19-yard chip shot field goal made it 21-17 at the half.
The Grizzly Cubs kept the rhythm going in the second half when they scored on their first three possessions. On its first possession, Franklin drove down the field to get it to the 1-yard line. When it looked like Leugers would get the direct snap, it went to Corbin Black for a 1-yard run to make it 28-17 with 6:38 left in the third. Leugers converted two more touchdowns, one for seven yards and another for 35 yards to seal the game.
