Purichia named QB for final playoff push

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By Dexter Howard, October 29, 2009

“It’s a good advantage to have three quarterbacks that we have confidence in and knowing they will be ready to perform,” said head coach Mike Leonard. “But we feel like now is the time to settle on one (quarterback), rally behind him and go with it.

 

Purichia, who is coming off an injury, has shared snaps with junior Kyle Ray and sophomore Nathan Ellis.

 

Saturday the Grizzlies (5-2, 3-1 HCAC) – ranked third in the HCAC behind Mount St. Joseph and Manchester – will travel to Terre Haute to take on Rose-Hulman, while still fighting for a potential playoff spot.

 

After the loss to undefeated Mount St. Joe’s, which snapped a 21-game HCAC win streak, the Grizzlies need to win out in order to have a shot at the conference title.

 

If Manchester, who is unbeaten in conference play, beats Mount St. Joe this weekend, a three-way tie between the teams could get Franklin closer to the HCAC automatic bid into the postseason.

 

“We need to get started on fixing our wounds. After a loss, other teams we’re getting ready to play and were once considered favorites against can smell some blood in the water,” Leonard said.

 

 The team will look to Purichia to lead the team this weekend. Purichia has completed 66-of-108 passes for 803 yards and seven touchdowns with just one interception. Purichia is also the Grizzlies’ second leading rusher with 125 yards.

 

Senior Adam Mellencamp leads the Grizzlies in receiving yards with 687, along with seven touchdowns on 46 catches. Sophomore Mitch Deffner has added 468 receiving yards and four touchdowns on 39 catches.

 

Together, running backs junior Mitch Downs, freshman Ethan Cook and sophomore and Nick Mongan have accounted for 97 yards per game.

 

Junior linebacker Nick Cochran leads the Grizzly defense with 52 total tackles and an interception. Senior linebackers Joe Rush and Teddy Henkle have added 50 and 49 total tackles, respectively. Rush has two interceptions.

 

“I anticipate a close game,” said Leonard. “We’ve talked more about ourselves as a team than we have Rose-Hulman but they’re a dangerous type of team. They’ll be hungry for a win because we play at their place and they’ll have a chance to beat the two-time defending conference champions.” 

 

The Engineers average 36.8 points per game, which stems from their 147.4 rushing and 258.8 passing yard averages. The offense is led by senior quarterback Derek Eitel. Eitel has completed 143-of-240 passes for 1,989 yards and 17 touchdowns with nine interceptions on the season.

 

 “They do some interesting types of things with their offense with wildcat-type stuff,” Leonard said. “Defense will be very important, so we’ll have to step up and play well.”

Junior linebacker Scott Eaton leads the defense with 97 total tackles, 9.5 of which have been for a loss. Eaton also has four sacks and a forced fumble. Senior defensive back Nick Murphy has two interceptions and a recovered fumble.

 

 “If we want to win a conference championship, we have to win every game,” Leonard said. “More important than that, a competitor needs to have a mind set that they want to win every game regardless. We’ll need to have a few things outside of our control to win conference at this point.”