Franklin gets early chance with Cal
To gauge the strength of the offense on the California University football team, one can look at the quarterback position, where Division I transfer James Harris threw for more than 3,000 yards and 24 touchdowns last season.
Or one can look at wide receiver Garry Brown, who caught 62 passes for 1,143 yards and eight touchdowns.
How about Desimon Green, a dual threat as a road-grading tight end who caught 27 passes for 259 yards and a touchdown?
Those would be good choices.
Just don’t leave John Franklin out of the conversation.
The 6-0, 220-pound power running back is stepping into a major void left when tailback Nick Grissom was lost for the season with a knee injury sustained in the spring. That means Franklin will most assuredly pass his totals of last season: six carries for 10 yards.
His development will be crucial to the Vulcans’ success, and he had time to prepare.
“I know it’s time for me to step up earlier than expected,” said Franklin, a sophomore from Canal Winchester High School, just south of Columbus, Ohio. “I thought I would be the No. 2 back this year. But it’s still the same responsibilities. We’re still splitting the carries.”
Franklin’s debut as a starter is today, when the Vulcans take on Virginia State in Petersburg, Va. Kickoff is 1 p.m.
“We’ve always been a running back-by-committee team,” said Cal head coach Mike Kellar. “Last year, we had Nick Grissom, Terrell Roberson and Derrick Fiore.”
The trio combined for 1,500 yards and 21 touchdowns. Roberson was a senior and Fiore, a Ringgold graduate, was switched to the secondary, leaving Grissom and Franklin. Now, it’s Franklin and Nate Goldsmith, a 5-10, 200-pound redshirt sophomore, to handle those duties. Jordan McCrae, a 5-10, 175-pound sophomore from Connelllsville, and Jimmy Wheeler, a 5-8, 175-pound freshman from Brentwood who led the WPIAL in rushing, also are available.
“Franklin is so big,” said Kellar. “He’s a downhill runner. We don’t get the full effect of him running in practice because we use thud-stop on hits.”
Franklin said the hardest day was when he learned Grissom was lost for the season.
“We’re real close,” Franklin said. “He’s one of my best friends. I gave him words of encouragement. I knew there would be a competition. I met Nate in the fall semester. We don’t look at it as a competition.”
The running game will be critical against Virginia State, the defending Central Intercollegiate Athletic Association champion. Most of the Trojans’ skill-position players return to a team that made the NCAA Division II playoffs last year for the first time.
Junior Tarian Ayers returns at quarterback after passing for more than 2,000 yards and 15 touchdowns. Kavon Bellamy rushed for more than 900 yards and will split time with Shepherd transfer Trenton Cannon. Senior wide receiver Jaivon Smallwood ranked among the CIAA leaders with 979 receiving yards and seven touchdowns on 59 catches.
“They are a fast football team,” said Kellar. “They are a 9-win ballclub last year, They have eight or nine starters back on offense and eight or nine back on defense. In that type of environment, it will be a tough opener for us.”
The Vulcans are 54-40-1 (.574) in season openers, winning 11 of their last 14. Cal defeated Virginia State, 33-14, in last year’s opener.