WASHOUGAL — Asking Elijah Franco to select his favourite play of the season yields a fast reply from the Washougal senior.
Throughout a Week 4 soccer sport in opposition to Mark Morris, Franco was roaming the defensive backfield from his security place when he jumped as much as deflect a deep go. He reached out to snag the ball into his gloves, and from there, he was off to the races for a 93-yard landing, certainly one of three defensive scores he’s had already this season.
“I thought, I’m just going to bat it down, but it kind of tipped it upwards instead of out,” Franco recalled. “(I) brought it down, and then the blocking was just insane on that play — I got like five pancakes from teammates. … It was great.”
Franco considers himself defense-first participant at coronary heart, and he’s within the midst of a dominant season on that facet of the ball with eight interceptions, two fumble recoveries, three defensive touchdowns and 109 complete tackles. Earlier this week, he was additionally tabbed by coaches because the 2A Larger St. Helens League’s Defensive MVP.
Franco’s knack for playmaking, because it turned out, additionally made him an amazing match within the Panthers’ offense.
Washougal coaches made a midseason pivot once they put Franco in at quarterback, splitting collection with starter Kaden Fautt. Since Franco entered the fold, the Panthers (6-3) have gained 4 straight video games forward of their Week 10 state preliminary spherical sport at Olympic (7-2) on Friday at 6:30 p.m.
By introducing new formations and two completely different kinds opposing defenses have to organize for, the Panthers’ offense has reached one other gear.
“They started giving me a couple drives and it started working,” Franco stated. “Kaden is still doing great at QB. But we’re able to switch off, switch things up and it’s a fully different look for defenses, so they gotta adjust.”
In accordance with Washougal coach Dave Hajek, the Panthers’ initially envisioned Franco taking direct snaps within the staff’s Wildcat formation. However after experimenting late in a Week 5 loss to Ridgefield, Washougal coaches realized they wanted to discover a greater position for Franco within the staff’s offense.
Franco hadn’t performed quarterback earlier than, or taken many offensive snaps in earlier seasons with the Panthers, however it didn’t matter. Coaches and teammates had confidence in him. He embraced the problem.
“I was definitely up for it,” Franco stated. “I thought it would be fun, it would be exciting. … (I wasn’t sure) how good I would be at it. But it’s been working out, even if I’m not throwing too much I’m still impacting the team.”
Over the past 4 weeks, Franco has rushed for 373 yards and 9 touchdowns. The senior has put collectively a number of highlight-reel performs, like a 43-yard landing run in opposition to R.A. Lengthy during which Franco broke one sort out, side-stepped one other defender, then reversed area and outran the protection to the tip zone. Washougal is averaging 39 factors per sport over that stretch.
“This year, first half of the season, he was a menace on defense. Unstoppable,” Washougal senior captain Harrison DeShazer stated. “Then we threw him in at quarterback, and at R.A. Long, you’ve seen that run from him, he took it back like (43) yards. That just fully turned our offense around.”
The Panthers have handled accidents to key gamers, together with DeShazer, a defensive finish and tight finish who’s out with a season-ending leg harm, and fellow senior captain Mercy Johnston, who hopes to play in Friday’s sport as he recovers from a bruised kidney.
With out them on the sphere for giant stretches of the season, Franco has been a stabilizing presence together with his play and management.
“He’s been really helpful just to lead the team, especially since me and Harry have been hurt,” Johnston stated. “He’s definitely a great example as a player — how good he is and how hard he works — for everyone else.”
Franco additionally credit Washougal’s teaching workers for making key changes to account for these accidents and make the most of gamers in new methods, like his current transfer to QB. Although the Panthers felt like underdogs coming into the season after graduating some key seniors, a collective effort between gamers and coaches has helped this system maintain success.
“(We) played like (we had) nothing to lose,” Franco stated. “Beginning of the season it felt like not a lot of people had much expectations for us. Losing guys, obviously, last year, but we knew we’d be good. …. It’s just been fun to change people’s minds.”
“I’m so proud of him,” stated DeShazer, an Idaho commit. “We put in a bunch of work throughout the summer (with) camps and stuff, and just coming out here putting in work just us two.”
These future plans might be finalized in due time, however first, the main focus is on Friday. The Panthers have reached the playoffs in three straight seasons, and a win over Olympic would get them again to the Class 2A state playoffs for a 3rd straight yr as nicely.
Franco is proud to be a part of the Panthers’ rising custom.
“It’s been awesome,” Franco stated. “Three years in a row, we’ve been playing well, we’ve been doing our best and we want to continue that. … But we definitely can, obviously, and I think they’ll continue to do it for years to come as well.”