Dane Andrews, a freshman, threw for 463 yards and five touchdowns to lift Franklin in a shootout with Anderson. Franklin athletics photo by Britany App

In the battle of Franklin under a new coach against a former Franklin assistant, it was all offense as for the third consecutive game, Anderson flirted with the 50-point mark, but gave up more than 50. Meanwhile, UMHB kicker Anthony Avila recovered after four misses to hit a game-winner for Mary Hardin-Baylor.

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Franklin jumped out to a 27-0 lead early in the second quarter on three touchdown passes by Dane Andrews and a 100-yard interception return by Michael Heading, and the Grizzlies made their lead 41-14 after their first possession of the third quarter in their first game under Franklin alumnus Alan Hensell. But the Anderson offense found new life, as Tyson Harley hit Zac Tallent for two touchdown passes, one of them 91 yards to get the Ravens (0-1) within 48-41 with 4:58 left. But Andrews answered with a big play of his own, finding Jarrett Gibson for a 55-yard touchdown and pushing the advantage back to two touchdowns. Harley led the Ravens on another scoring drive with 1:22 left and kicked deep with two timeouts remaining but was unable to get the defensive stop.

WATCH | Jarrett Gibson gives @FCGrizFootball a late two-score lead, taking this Dane Andrews pass and splitting the Anderson defense for a 55-yard touchdown, his third of the day! #TeamGriz #d3fb pic.twitter.com/aiXZFMYsud

— Franklin Grizzlies (@FCGrizAthletics) March 7, 2021

Andrews finished 24-for-33 passing for 463 yards and five touchdowns for the Grizzlies (1-0). Harley had a bunch of stats, but not all of them positive -- completing 45 of 66 passes for 547 yards and three scores, but with four interceptions. Gibson had the biggest day among the Franklin receivers, with 10 catches for 214 yards and three scores, while Tallent, James Tucker and Reggie Lipscomb combined for 36 catches and 479 yards for the Ravens.

"Dane has the tools to succeed and I was proud how he handled the game," Hensell said after the game. "We liked what we saw from Spencer Wright when he got on the field as well. We're really proud of both those guys and our team as a whole for how they fought through some tough situations."

Hensell is in his first season as head coach after the retirement of Mike Leonard. Anderson is coached by former Franklin assistant Steve Rock.

Mary Hardin-Baylor survived four missed field goals, but Anthony Avila came back and got the one when the Cru really needed it, drilling a 37-yarder with 2:12 left to get UMHB past East Texas Baptist 30-28. The Cru (3-0) staked itself to a 27-7 lead late in the third quarter before ETBU (2-2) rattled off three consecutive touchdowns, the last a 1-yard run by Bailey Badeaux to give the Tigers the lead with 7:26 remaining. But Avila split the uprights at the end of UMHB's next possession and the Cru defense held.

Hendrix held Trinity (Texas) to 175 yards of total offense and won a defensive battle in San Antonio by a 13-3 score. The win put Hendrix in the SAA championship game next Saturday against Berry, which defeated Centre 18-17 in overtime. Two Tigers quarterbacks combined to throw four interceptions, completing nine of 20 passes for 55 yards. Adonnis Butler and the Warriors' defensive front disrupted the Tigers all day long, with Butler contributing three tackles for loss and two sacks. Gavin Gray threaded the needle to find Cameron Kawa for a 15-yard touchdown with 4:02 left in regulation, and then Gray found Kawa again in the back left corner of the end zone in overtime for a two-point conversion, lifting Berry to the overtime win at Centre. Gray went 9-for-12 for 114 yards and two touchdowns in the final quarter and overtime after starting the game 10-for-20 for 95 yards in the first three quarters. Gray and Kawa's heroics in the second half of the overtime period overshadowed what had been a gutsy run by Centre's Patric Edwards, who fought off multiple would-be tacklers on his way to the end zone with a 25-yard touchdown on the second play of the extra session.

Brevard scored 19 unanswered points and rallied from a 10-0 deficit to spoil the season opener for Averett, 19-10. Eli Carr came in at quarterback for the Tornados in the second quarter and completed 24 of 32 passes, throwing for 212 yards and a touchdown. His 10-yard pass to Mitchell Yoder capped a 79-yard drive to get Brevard (1-1) on the board with 1:59 left in the third quarter, and the Tornados found the end zone again on their very next possession, capped by a 4-yard Damon Rouse run to give Brevard a 12-10 lead. Quentin Jackson then picked off Averett's Bryce Jackson and returned the interception for an easy 31-yard touchdown to seal the victory.

Montez Archer Jr. picked off three passes as Manchester threw six interceptions and Bluffton turned them into three touchdowns in a 49-14 win. Darian Greeley, who was named to the D3football.com Team of the Week for the Fall portion of the 2020-21 season, was kept somewhat in check, picking up just 48 yards on 20 carries, but he scored two touchdowns, and Maalik Tucker added a 58-yard touchdown run as Bluffton improved to 2-0. Plus, not only did Archer pick off three passes, he returned a fumble 65 yards for a touchdown. Latsen Stoudymire was a bright spot for Manchester (0-4) with a 92-yard kickoff return for a touchdown after Bluffton took a 35-0 lead before halftime.

Justin DeLeon and Presley Egbers each ran for more than 100 yards and Ebgers completed 11 of 14 passes for 190 yards and two scores as Randolph-Macon defeated Bridgewater 25-13 on Friday night. The loss ended a 12-game win streak for the Eagles against ODAC opponents. The Yellow Jackets (2-0) jumped out to an 18-6 lead in the first half, including Egbers finding David Wallis for a 73-yard touchdown catch with 23 seconds left in the second quarter. And in the second half, the Eagles never had a chance. That's because the Jackets held the ball for 22:26 of the second half. That included a bruising 18-play, 76-yard drive that took up 9:45 of clock in the third and fourth quarter, ending when Egbers split right through a hole up front on fourth-and-goal from the 1-yard line for a touchdown.

Rose-Hulman limited Defiance to minus-9 rushing yards and 115 yards of total offense on the afternoon as the Fightin' Engineers rolled to a 52-6 win in the teams' season opener. Noah Thomas caught seven passes for 183 yards and two scores to become RHIT's career leader with 2,562 receiving yards. Andrew Hesse racked up three and a half tackles for loss, two and a half sacks. 

Whitworth blocked two kicks, recovered a bad snap on a punt and consistently pinned Puget Sound deep on kickoffs as the third phase of the game -- special teams -- got the job done for the Pirates in a 30-12 win. Whitworth (3-0) also blocked a field goal in the first quarter and blocked an extra point in the second, which Colton Chelin returned for a defensive two-point conversion.