ONLINE EXCLUSIVE: Lions welcome Habersham for home opener tonight

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  • The Franklin County Lions will welcome the Habersham Central Raiders tonight at 7:30 p.m. at Ed Bryant Stadium for Franklin's home opener.
    The Franklin County Lions will welcome the Habersham Central Raiders tonight at 7:30 p.m. at Ed Bryant Stadium for Franklin's home opener.
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After two games on the road and a week off, the Franklin County Lions are coming home.

The football team will hold its home opener tonight at 7:30 p.m. at Ed Bryant Stadium.

The opponent will be Habersham Central, a squad that struggled in its first two games but found its stride last week.

The Raiders come into tonight’s game off of a 42-28 win over White County.

Habersham rolled up 537 total yards, 300 passing and 237 rushing.

Quarterback Ryte Woodruff, running back Jackson Clouatre and receiver Josh Pickett lead the Habersham offense.

Woodruff had 68 yards rushing to go with his 300 yards passing against White County.

Clouatre ran for 141 yards on 24 carries, while Pickett caught 10 passes for 193 yards.

The Habersham defense has been consistent. The Raiders allowed 27 points to Dawson County in a season-opening loss, 26 to Madison County in a loss and 28 to White County.

Benji Harrison, a former Franklin County assistant coach and Stephens County quarterback, is the Raiders’ head coach. 

He owns a 4-1 record against Franklin County, with the only loss coming in a 46-45 Lion win over Habersham in 2017. Harrison coached at Jackson County before taking the Habersham position.

The Lions come into the game with an 0-2 record, but after an off week that was needed to allow some healing.

Franklin’s offensive line has had several injuries already this season and running back C.J. Hall was hurt in a 15-7 loss at Banks County.

Kickoff will be at 7:30 p.m.