[Stardust]

FRANKLIN, KY. — After watching his team’s season end in heartbreaking fashion, Collins High School football coach Jerry Lucas stood in the middle of the field and wondered what could have been.

The Titans had three drives into the red zone end with no points and committed two fourth-quarter turnovers in a 20-15 loss at Franklin-Simpson in Friday’s Class 4-A state semifinal.

“People look at a game that’s so close, and you look at a call here or a call here and you’re thinking, ‘What the heck did you just call?’ ” Lucas said. “I look at it and say, ‘We were down there three times and just didn’t punch it in the end zone.’ ”

Chris Davis’ 9-yard touchdown run with 5:05 left gave the Wildcats (13-1) a 20-15 lead, and the Titans (11-3) couldn’t convert on their final two possessions.

Franklin-Simpson advanced to a state final for the first time since 1995 and will face Fort Thomas Highlands (14-0) at 4 p.m. EST next Saturday in Bowling Green. Highlands, a 20-time state champion, beat Lexington Catholic 42-21 in Friday’s other 4-A semifinal.

“It feels great,” said Franklin-Simpson senior Jerrell Wickware, who made two key plays for the Wildcats. “It feels like everything I’ve done for four years didn’t go to waste. We worked hard, and we deserved it.”

Collins scored on its first two possessions for a 9-0 lead and led 9-7 at halftime before a back-and-forth second half.

The Wildcats took a 14-9 lead with a wild fourth-and-12 play on the first drive of the third quarter. Quarterback Max Bennett threw a pass to the 15, where Wickware caught it and then pitched it behind his back.

Darrius Wickware, Jerrell’s cousin, picked up the loose ball and scampered the final 15 yards for a touchdown.

“That was just Darrius making a play,” Wildcats coach Tim Schlosser said. “It wasn’t designed to be dropped on the ground. We’d saved that play all year. They were really coming up on Jerrell, and we thought we could flip it back and get a score.”

Collins answered on its next drive, taking a 15-14 lead on Michael Collins’ 17-yard TD run. After a Franklin-Simpson turnover, the Titans drove the field and faced a fourth-and-5 at the 7 on the first play of the fourth quarter.
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