MEADVILLE &8212; One year ago, the Franklin County Bulldogs used a strong running game which amassed 373 yards in its stunning 33-14 win over top-ranked Forest in the second round of the Class 3A South State playoffs.

Friday night, however, the Bearcats got a measure of revenge, using a balanced attack on offense and a 4-3 defense that is led by one of the biggest defensive lines in all of 3A to defeat the Bulldogs 35-7 in a first-round playoff game at Louie Mullins Memorial Stadium.

&8220;We didn&8217;t make any plays,&8221; Franklin County head coach Grady McCluskey said. &8220;We had chances to get in the game. The ball didn&8217;t bounce our way.&8221;

Led by the running of Brad Ellis and the passing of Keith Brown, Forest (8-3 and the No. 3 seed out of Region 5-3A) ended up with 327 total yards of offense &045; 169 yards rushing and 158 yards passing. That total was 105 yards more than the Bearcats had in its loss to the Bulldogs a year ago.

&8220;They&8217;re a very good team,&8221; McCluskey said. &8220;They&8217;re going to have a chance against Hazlehurst.&8221;

Rod Lofton took a lateral from Brown and threw a 29-yard halfback pass to Cameron Nicholson with 9:10 to go in the first quarter to give Forest a 7-0 lead.

Even though Brown didn&8217;t throw a touchdown pass, he completed 10 of 13 passes for 129 yards. The Bearcats added two more touchdowns in the second quarter in just a 16-second span that put the game out of reach.

Brown scored on a 4-yard run at the 4:48 mark and Ellis scored on a 20-yard run with 4:32 remaining.

Forest recovered a fumble that set up its third touchdown of the first half.

Franklin County (6-4 and the No. 2 seed from Region 7-3A) finally got on the scoreboard with 50 seconds left until halftime when quarterback Jonte&8217; Marshall scored on a 1-yard run as the Bulldogs trailed 21-7 at halftime.