That was quite an encouraging showing for the third oldest school in the Elk Grove Unified School District and one of the upstarts in the same district.
Florin opened in 1989 after Elk Grove opened somewhere around the time the Eart cooled and after Valley opened in 1977. There was much promise for the football team, but the football team posted just two winning seasons entering this season.
So far, so good for coach Mike Morales and company, particularly after stunning No. 11 Pleasant Grove - the defending Delta River League champions - 26-24. Brothers James and David Kilson each rushed for more than 100 yards, with James scoring three times, and Tim Okunev had a 7-yard touchdown pass to Devon White with 27 seconds left to set off a mad-house celebration for the Panthers (4-2).
And here's what makes Florin a viable league contender: It had three scoring drives of 80 or more yards. That's championship football. And the defense only allowed Pleasant Grove to have the ball for just over seven minutes in the first half.
Meanwhile, Franklin walloped Elk Grove 35-14 after losing to the Thundering Herd in each of the past two seasons to decide the Delta Valley League title. Most galling for Elk Grove was the game was home contest, on Homecoming night.
First-year coach Brian Prahl - one of the really good guys in the business - vowed better days after losing a gut-wrenching close game to Pleasant Grove to open the season. He implored his young team to be patient, that their day would come.
He was right. A 2-4 record never felt so good, particularly after Franklin pulled the biggest win in school history. It was the first victory over the Herd for a program that came of age from new-school wonder to playoff team under previous coach Mike Johnson.
Franklin had big outings from Erik Prudhome, Aaron McCowan and improving quarterback Adam Kennedy. Next up is another tilt at No. 5 Nevada Union (6-0).
