Franklin ready for rematch with Hilltoppers
Sabers look forward to match up with Marquette
Sabers coach Jeff Klemp praises his team after its 40-0 win against Greenfield in the season opener, a home game at Franklin High School. Photo By Pat A. Robinson
Franklin — The Franklin football team remembers all too well what happened in the second half of their nonconference game with eventual Division 1 state champion Marquette last fall.
After playing evenly with the Hilltoppers for two quarters, the wheels fell off for the Sabers after intermission. Marquette piled up many of its 400 offensive yards and outscored host Franklin, 30-0, after halftime en route to a 46-17 victory last September.
"They slapped us around pretty good in the second half," Franklin coach Jeff Klemp said. "The kids remember that and they're not going to let it happen again."
The teams meet for a rematch at Hart Park in Wauwatosa at 7 p.m. Friday, both coming into the matchup after very different results in their season-openers.
Ready for a rematch
The Sabers pounded Greenfield, 40-0, on Friday, one day after Marquette lost to Wisconsin Lutheran, 28-7. The Hilltoppers lost a ton of talent from last year's team, including twins and defensive stalwarts Marcus and Michael Trotter, and former head coach Dick Basham retired after his team won its first-ever WIAA title and has been replaced by Jeff Mazurczak.
But the cupboard is not bare. Among the key returning players is defensive lineman Mark Scarpinato, a Michigan State recruit.
"This is a big test for us coming up," Klemp said. "It should be a good gauge of where we're at right now. Up front they're pretty big. Their (defensive) line is pretty big."
In the season-opener, Franklin had no trouble with Greenfield's relatively big defensive line, or any other positions for that matter. The offense, led by senior quarterback Lance Baretz and senior receiver Evan Walton, rolled up more than 400 yards of offense, a good chunk coming from the aforementioned senior connection.
Baretz completed 8-of-12 passes - two of the incomplete passes were receiver drops - for 223 yards and two touchdowns, both to Walton, who had a huge day with five catches for 195 yards. He hauled in a third touchdown pass from Ian Malmstadt. His scoring catches covered 76, 27 and 54 yards.
"The play that was called (on the touchdowns), Evan happened to be the guy that was open at that time," Klemp said. "It wasn't like we were trying to go to him."
Baretz also rushed four times for 70 yards and two touchdowns, including a 47-yard touchdown run that marked the first score of the Sabers' season.
"Our offense looked pretty good I thought," Klemp said. "We moved the ball almost every time we had it. I thought we made some plays. The defense put zero up, which is huge, but we had a little bit of a problem with their option at times."
Greenfield tallied 189 yards under first-year coach Scott Otto, who previously coached at West Allis Hale and was the Huskies' head man when they lost to Franklin, 29-27, in the second round of the playoffs during the Sabers' 2006 state-championship run.
"No disrespect to anyone in our league (the Woodland Conference), but there is no one in our league as good as Franklin," Otto said. "That's definitely one of the top-five D2 teams in the state. I'd put them as the (Southeast) conference championship if Bradford wasn't in their league."
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