’Jacks roll past Hornets for district title

The Patterson Lumberjacks gave Franklin a taste of its own medicine as the Lumberjacks used a power run game to pound Franklin 45-6 en route to the District 9-3A championship Friday.
Patterson’s celebration was muted, however, after losing standout quarterback Spencer Landry to an injury early in the game. Landry, one of the top passers in the state, has completed 149-of-252 passes for 2,523 yards with 30 touchdowns and 12 interceptions.
“We’ll have to see on Spencer,” Patterson head coach Tommy Minton said. “We think it’s a cracked collarbone; he’ll have X-rays Monday, and we’ll go from there.”
Patterson will enter the postseason as the fourth seed in Class 3A’s nonselect bracket and will host Rayville (4-6, 2-2 District 2-3A) Friday in the first-round of the state playoffs at 7 p.m.
In Friday’s contest, Patterson (8-2, 4-0) started fast when outside linebacker Nehemiah Augustus recovered Franklin quarterback Jarion Brown’s fumble and raced 28 yards for the first score of the game at the 8:53 mark.
The fumble was one of seven turnovers for Franklin (6-4, 3-1), who had three additional fumbles as well as three interceptions.
The Hornets briefly tied the game after a Landry interception was returned 39 yards by David Kinchen to the Patterson 1-yard line and Brandon McFarlane subsequently crashed into the end zone with 2:17 remaining in the first quarter.
Patterson answered 12 seconds later, when Augustus took the Franklin kickoff 88 yards for a touchdown.
The ’Jacks opened the second quarter without Landry, but Jake LaGrange didn’t miss a beat. The junior quarterback tossed a 23-yard scoring pass to Daylon Charlot at the 8:19 mark, pushing the ’Jacks lead to 18-6.
 LaGrange was 2-of-6 passing for 35 yards and a score.
“You can’t say enough about the poise Jake showed,” Minton said. “(He’s) a great competitor and the team rallied around him.”
With a new quarterback in the game, Patterson went to the ground game.
Tristen Ausama and Deontay Jones responded with 100-yard games. Ausama carried five times for 107 yards and a score, while Jones had 17 carries for 102 yards and a touchdown.
“I think we showed Franklin that we can run the football too,” Minton said.
Franklin’s backfield duo of McFarlane and Brian Robertson had averaged nearly 400 rushing yards in their six-game win streak coming into the game.
Robertson, however, was injured on the Hornets’ second drive and did not return.
“When Robertson went down that changed the whole complexion of the game,” Franklin head coach J. Ina said. “I couldn’t spell McFarlane but he battled all night.”
McFarlane carried 43 times for 165 yards and a score.
“Patterson has a better run game than I saw on film,” Ina said. “They are a good team. They deserve a high seeding, but I’m worried about getting my team healthy for next week.”
However, Ina said his squad can be proud because this is the first time the current team has advanced to the playoffs.
Franklin is a 23rd-seed and will travel to 12-seed Westlake Friday.
Patterson extended its lead to 26-6 at the half and rolled to victory. It’s the ’Jacks eighth straight win after starting the season 0-2.