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FRANKLIN - The Collins football team held the lead for most of its Class 4A state semifinal against host Franklin-Simpson, but it was the Wildcats who came out victorious.

Chris Davis' 9-yard touchdown run - which capped off an 18-play, 87-yard drive - with 5:05 to play gave Franklin-Simpson a 20-15 victory over the Titans at James "Shadetree" Mathews Stadium.

Collins (11-3) had one final chance to win the game, but sophomore quarterback Lawson Page's pass - which was intended for his older brother, Andrew - was intercepted with a little over 1 minute remaining.

"It's been a great ride," Titans Coach Jerry Lucas told his team after the game.

It looked like it was going to be a joy ride early on for Collins.

The Titans took the opening kickoff - which was returned to the Wildcats' 18 by Cedric Hinkle - and took a 3-0 lead on Austin Nakatani's 33-yard field goal.

Collins increased that lead to 9-0 a few minutes later when Isaac Shaull snared Darrius Wickware's punt behind the line of scrimmage, after a bad snap, and returned it 38 yards for a Titans' TD. The point-after kick attempt was blocked, but Collins still had an early lead.

Franklin-Simpson (13-1) responded with a 7-play, 49-yard scoring drive (after recovering the Titans' onside-kick attempt) that Wickware capped off with a 7-yard TD run to make it 9-7.

That was the score at halfitme too after Collins senior linebacker Michael Brooks picked off a pass by Wildcats quarterback Max Bennett at the goal line less than 12 seconds before intermission.

Franklin-Simpson, though, took the opening kickoff of the second half and drove downfield for the go-ahead touchdown.

The Wildcats's score, though, came under questionable circumstances. It happened when, on fourth-and-12 from the Titans' 22, Bennett passed to Jerrell Wickware near the 15. Wickware then lateraled the ball to his cousin, Darrius Wickware, who ran down the sideline and into the end zone while most of the Collins players stood and watched. They did so because it sounded as if one of the officials had blown his whistle after what could have been a forward lateral. The officials gathered for a few minutes before a touchdown was signaled.

The Titans answered immediately, though, with a 6-play, 73-yard drive. The last five plays of that quick march were runs as Darian Dugle ran for 3, 7 and 22 yards before Brooks gained 11, then 17. The latter put Collins up 15-14. The two-point conversion run try failed, but the the Titans had the lead. Moments later they had the ball back too, after a Wildcat fumble.

Collins seemed in control at that point, especially after five straight runs gave the Titans a first-and-goal at the 8. Collins, however, couldn't punch it into the end zone and eventually turned the ball over on downs early in the fourth quarter.

Franklin-Simpson took over at its own 13 and went on its game-winning march.

Darrius Wickware finished the game with 29 rushes for 165 yards as the Wildcats rushed 54 times for 230 yards. Bennett passed for 67 as Franklin-Simpson finished with 297 yards of offense.

On the flip side Collins had 259 yards of offense (171 rushing, 88 passing). Dugle ran 12 times for 63 yards, while Brooks carried the ball nine times for 54 yards. Lawson Page completed 9 of 14 passes for 88 yards, while Andrew Page finished with four catches for 51 yards. Brooks finished the game with 19 tackles, while Travis Kennon tallied 13.

http://www.sentinelnews.com/content/collins-falls-20-15