Franklin, Eastlake grab victories on the gridiron Thursday night

Franklin 70, Socorro 33 Final

The Franklin Cougars completed a perfect regular season in district play and moved their overall record to 8-2 with a win Thursday night at the SAC over Socorro. Although the Bulldogs jumped out to an early 7-0 lead, the Cougars were able to rally, scoring a remarkable 56 of their 70 points in the first half. Franklin is expected to host a bidistrict matchup next week. The Cougars remain one of the hottest teams around, having won eight in a row after dropping their first two contests of the season against Rio Rancho Cleveland of New Mexico and Odessa Permian. Socorro finished the year without a win, but their offense came to life late in the year. The Bulldogs scored a combined 71 points over the final two weeks, including 38 last week in a loss to Montwood.

Bel Air 14, Eastlake 49, Final

The Eastlake Falcons wrapped up the fourth spot out of District 1-5A, Div. I by beating Bel Air in the second game of the evening at the SAC. The Falcons went 2-3 in district and 5-5 overall in the regular season, but they did enough to secure a playoff spot, eliminating El Dorado and Bel Air. The Highlanders finished the season 0-10, which was a disappointment following the 2017 season which saw them win five games and make it to the playoffs. With Eastlake’s win, the four playoff teams from 1-5A, Div. I are set. The Falcons will be joined by Eastwood, Del Valle, and Chapin, all of whom had already wrapped up a top-three seed before this week’s games.