MEADVILLE — It was a long game with the wrong outcome for the Franklin County Bulldogs as they played host to top-ranked and Region 6-3A champion Forest Friday night at Louie Mullins Memorial Stadium.

Franklin County, the No. 3 seed from Region 7-3A, couldn’t stop anyone on offense, and when the Bulldogs had the ball, they had nowhere to run against a powerful Bearcats defense. And when it was all over, Forest ended up with a 43-7 win in the second round of the Class 3A South State Playoffs to end the Bulldogs’ season.

For the first time in a long time, Franklin County was held to negative yards rushing. The Bulldogs finished with minus-14 yards on 24 carries. Billy Norman was their leading rusher with 9 yards on 3 carries.

By the time Franklin County ended Forest’s shutout bid on Jadarius Davis’ 64-yard touchdown pass to Milton Griffin with 10:30 to go in the ball game, Forest was ahead 41-0.

The Bearcats had their way with the Bulldogs’ defense in this game. Led by Quillian Jones, who had 118 yards and two touchdowns on 15 carries, Forest had 261 total rushing yards.

Matthew Evans threw for 143 yards and three touchdowns with no interceptions on 6-of-17 passing. Josh Pinkston had two receptions for 59 yards, including a 30-yard touchdown catch early in the second quarter. Evans also threw touchdown passes to Marquez Johnson and Treshawn Mitchell.

Davis and Griffin were the only two bright spots for Franklin County’s offense. Davis completed 7 of 18 passes for 119 yards with one touchdown and one interception. Griffin ended up with four catches for 85 yards.

Forest (12-0) will take on Region 7-3A runner-up Hazlehurst in a Class 3A South State semifinal game next Friday at 7 p.m.

Jefferson County 58,

Morton 20

LORMAN — The Jefferson County Tigers continued their amazing and stunning run through the Class 3A South State Playoffs with a blowout win over Region 6-3A runner-up Morton Friday night at Jack Spinks Stadium on the Alcorn State University campus.

What many thought was going to be Jefferson County’s last game of the season — remember, it got into the playoffs with a win at Franklin County two weeks ago in the regular season finale — despite playing at a college stadium turned out to be a showcase of the Tigers’ offense.

Jefferson County (7-4) will face a very familiar opponent in the semifinal round of the Class 3A South State Playoffs when the Tigers play host to defending state champion, Region 7-3A champion and fifth-ranked Tylertown next Friday at 7 p.m.