TYLERTOWN — It was a defensive struggle from the opening kickoff to the final whistle between the Franklin County Bulldogs and the No. 2 team in all of MHSAA Class 3A, the Tylertown Chiefs Friday night.

In the end, Franklin County just could not keep Tylertown (5-0) out of the end zone in the final minutes of the third and fourth quarter as the Chiefs rallied from an early deficit to defeat the Bulldogs 13-6 to remain undefeated.

Despite the loss, Franklin County head coach Anthony Hart said he was pleased with the team’s effort against one of the top teams in the state regardless of classification.

“We played extremely hard. We played a great game defensively,” Hart said. “I thought we competed and we’re going to get better.”

Jacob McDaniel threw a five-yard touchdown pass to De’Martre Collins with 7:27 to go in the first quarter, but a botched snap on the extra-point attempt kept the score a 6-0 in favor of the Bulldogs.

But Tylertown’s defense came through with two interceptions and made sure that Franklin County could not move the chains to keep drives alive and keep its own defense off the field.

“We left the defense out there too much. We didn’t get enough first downs,” Hart said. “Tylertown’s very good. They’re big, they’re fast.”

The Chiefs finally got on the scoreboard when O.J. Magee scored on a two-yard run and Naquijul Kelly’s extra point gave them a 7-6 lead at the 1:06 mark of the third quarter.

Then with only 1:30 remaining, Aaron Jefferson threw a 10-yard touchdown pass to Jermaine Carpenter to go up by seven.

Magee had 74 yards on 18 carries while Jefferson was 5-for-13 passing with one interception for 66 yards.

Collins was held in check on the ground as he had just 40 yards on 10 carries. He was also the team’s leading receiver with 27 yards on three receptions. McDaniel was just 7-for-24 for 57 yards with those two picks.

Franklin County (3-3) begins MHSAA Division 7-3A play at 7 p.m. next Friday at Wilkinson County.