 High School Football:
Francks and Smith Gives Shawnee Well Deserved Win
Saturday, October 27, 2001
By Vincent Lewis
SJSports Staff Writer
Trying to find a place to park in Mount Holly was a difficult task if you were planning to attend the football game at the newly named Coach Bill Gordon Stadium. With the homecoming festivities planned at halftime, the fans lined up on both sides of the field for this Olympic Conference match up between Shawnee and the Red Devils from Rancocas Valley High School. Every attempt was made to stop Shawnee from spoiling Rancocas Valley's homecoming celebrations, but on this day Adam Francks put on a show that led his team to the 35-10 victory.
 With the playoffs for South Jersey football just a few weeks away, every win would go a long way in gaining a good seeded position. This highly anticipated meeting had all the makings of a high scoring affair. That was not the case as the Renegades silenced the homecoming crowd as they watched Adam Francks and Keith Smith ran their way to a combined 4 first half touchdowns to put the game away early.
Rancocas Valley got on the scoreboard first when a Jon Abbott converted on a 25-yard field goal. The Red Devils' defense forced a fumble to set up the early 3-0 lead. Right back came the Renegades from Shawnee when they put together a consuming drive to score with 3:10 remaining in the first quarter. Quarterback Bill Kurtz threw a 10-yard pass to Smith and Shawnee saw a lead they never relinquished. During that drive, Francks found his way into the secondary picking up key first downs when needed. Smith would score his second touchdown of the day when he rushed for a 3-yard score and a 14-3 head start.
Shawnee's offensive line began winning the battles on the front line as Francks greeted the Red Devils' secondary during his first score of the day. His hard running was finally rewarded when he received a screen pass from Kurtz and danced his way for the 29-yard touchdown. Rancocas would give this capacity crowd something to cheer about when quarterback Dan Dudley found Marcus Shell open down field and scored on the 24-yard reception with 2:19 remaining in the half. But the highlight of the day was when Francks received the handoff and started left and ran into a host of defenders. His legs never stopped moving as he broke free and rumbled down the right sideline for a crowd stunning, very impressive 61-yard score. Kurtz completed the scoring in the second half when he threw his second touchdown pass of the day to Dan MacDonald.
Photos by Art Redd
    
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