By Bobby Narang –
IC Catholic Prep High School running back Kyle Franklin’s game-turning run occurred in two forms during Saturday’s Class 4A State semifinal football game against visiting Richmond-Burton.
With the Knights held scoreless at halftime, Franklin burst out of the locker room and darted on to the field in a frenzied state. It was his game-turning run.
In the first half, after gaining 311 yards and scoring six touchdowns in the quarterfinals in a 49-27 victory against Marengo, Franklin was limited to 25 yards in the first two quarters against Richmond-Burton.
“I wanted to fire up my teammates and get on the field,” Franklin said. “I just ran out (for the second half) because I had to get my legs warmed up. I had to let everybody know that we were coming out to win.”
After firing up his teammates, Franklin fired up the large IC home crowd in Elmhurst with a momentum-changing 93-yard touchdown run that triggered 28 unanswered points to lift the Knights to a 28-9 victory.
Franklin rushed for 193 yards and scored three touchdowns against the Rockets.
The Knights, 13-0, have won two straight Class 3A State championships, and after being moved up to 4A because of the IHSA success factor, they will play Bishop McNamara in Friday’s 7 p.m. 4A championship game at Memorial Stadium at the University of Illinois in Champaign.
The Knights defeated McNamara, 12-10, in week three in Elmhurst in a Metro Suburban Conference Blue game.
“I feel we are a lot more connected, a brotherhood and each of us know each other,” Franklin said about the team’s strength this season.
Senior wide receiver Khali Saunders said the Knights showed championship character with their comeback. Richmond-Burton, 11-2, led 9-0 at halftime. “We just knew our defense was stopping them and our offense just had to put points on the board and we were waiting for a spark,” Saunders said. “Kyle gave us that spark with him running hard. We knew we had it in us. We came out flat and they came out fighting. We just needed that spark. It’s an amazing feeling to know that we’ve been pretty dominant the last three years,” he said. “It’s great to be on a winning team. Everyone loves to win.”
The Knights fell short of their 44.3 points per game average against Richard-Burton, but scored four touchdowns in the last two quarters against a Rockets’ defense that had allowed just 14 points in their last three playoff games.
“They had us on the ropes with good field position the whole time,” IC Catholic head coach Bill Kreft said. “We just had to be patient, and we could hit a couple (big plays)…Our offense is explosive.”