MEADVILLE — Franklin County’s defense did a good job controlling Taylorsville’s running game. The problem was the Bulldogs had no answer for the Tartars’ two-quarterback aerial assault.

Terrian Page and Fernando Hamilton combined to throw for 358 yards and two touchdowns to lead the top-ranked team in Class 2A to a 33-17 win over Franklin County Friday night at Louie Mullins Memorial Stadium.

Page had just 9 completions on 14 attempts, yet he still ended up throwing for 307 yards against the Bulldogs’ inconsistent defense. That included an 81-yard touchdown pass to Hamilton just past the midway mark of the second quarter.

As for Hamilton, he completed all three of his passes for 51 yards. His biggest completion was a 43-yard touchdown pass to Rodregus Ducksworth with 6:41 to go in the third quarter. Ducksworth caught three passes for 110 yards.

The first quarter was for the most part a defensive struggle. Taylorsville (5-0) scored first on a 2-yard touchdown run by Deon Fairley with 6:23 remaining in the first quarter. Franklin County tried to answer with a touchdown of its own, but had to settle for a 29-yard field goal by Preston Shelton as the Bulldogs trailed 6-3 heading into the second quarter.

Dimetrius Sullivan scored on a 1-yard run with 7:39 left in the second half and he added the two-point conversion run to give the Tartars a 14-3 lead before they went to the air on their next two scores.

Lemarcus Booth scored on a 6-yard run with 7:43 to go in the ball game that gave Taylorsville a 33-3 lead. Franklin County (2-3) made the final score more respectable with two fourth-quarter touchdowns. Jadarius Davis scored on a 4-yard run and Calvin Robinson had a 6-yard touchdown reception from Davis.

Another key to the game was the Bulldogs’ inability to run the football. They ran the ball just 16 times in the game for a total of minus-4 yards. That forced them to throw the ball more than they like to.

Davis completed 17 of 28 passes for 133 yards with two interceptions. Milton Griffin completed both of his passes for 25 yards. Fred Coleman had six catches in the game for 83 yards.

Franklin County will look to get back on track when the Bulldogs travel to Simpson County to take on Mendenhall next Friday at 7:30 p.m.

Wilkinson County 20, Port Gibson 19

PORT GIBSON — For the second time this season, the Class 4A Port Gibson Blue Waves lost at home to a team from Region 7-3A. Two weeks ago Jefferson County handed them their first loss of the season.

Then on Friday night, the much-improved Wilkinson County Wildcats held on for a one-point win to improve to 3-1 on the season while Port Gibson fell to 3-2.

Port Gibson looked to be in control of the game in the first half and took a 13-0 lead into halftime. However, Wilkinson County responded with 14 third-quarter points to take the lead. While both teams scored six points in the fourth quarter, the Blue Waves needed one point to send the game into overtime or two to win it. But the Wildcats made sure that would not happen.

Wilkinson County plays its third straight road game next Friday at Crystal Springs with a 7:30 p.m. kickoff.