theseason

The Season

With the first game approaching for the 2004 season, none of the area sportswriters gave Franklin a chance to end the season much better than 5-5. Few doubted even a single playoff game to be in store for the team. Numerous fans felt this was a "rebuilding year".

However, while all of this doubt was being held by so many people, including the so called "experts", one person knew there was something about this group of young men that could prove to be successful once all the pieces of the puzzle were put in place. Coach Johnson believed all along in these young men.

With two games remaining in the regular season, the doubters out there had at least started raising their eyebrows and figured, a 7 - 1 team might be a little better than the pre-season picks had made them out to be. With a trip to Kenwood yielding a 42 - 6 victory for the Rebels, the remaining game for the season would be at Dickson County. FHS wanted revenge from the previous season against DCHS. And revenge they got with a 49 - 20 hammering over the Cougars leaving the Franklin High Rebels with a 9 - 1 season record.

The rebels would now be set to enter the TSSAA 5A Playoffs as the second seed for the region.

The first game brought the usual battle against a tough Lincoln County team with the Rebels winning. The following week, the Rebels held off a very good Columbia team with a tremendous goal line stand. And so began the show of a hard hitting and stubborn defense pieced together by the Rebels new Defensive Coordinator Donnie Webb.

The first three games of the season were close in score, but when the fourth game, which was at Oakland came around, Offensive Coordinator Danny Nowell was devising different schemes for every game utilizing different quarterbacks and play formations. The Rebels blasted Oakland 40 - 14 allowing many younger players a chance to get in the action.

Homecoming came in the fifth game with the Rebels racking up 51 points to Clarksville's 28.

The second half of the season brought on tough region competition with the 5 - 0 Rebels paired up against cross-town rival Centennial. Down 14 - 13 in the fourth quarter, defensive lineman Tim Leach scooped up a Centennial fumble and stormed 80 yards to put the Rebels up and win in miracle fashion. But the next week brought the only blemish in the Rebels season with a 17 - 16 loss to Brentwood at home. The following week found the Rebels getting back in the winning mode by defeating a very good Ravenwood team at home for FHS's "Senior Night".