Franklin's ground game piles up 453 yards through two games

Prep Football

Six Patriots have carried the ball this season. Four of them have found the end zone.

Two games into the 2026 season, the Livonia Franklin Patriots have built an offense around the run — and the numbers show it working. Franklin has gained 453 rushing yards on 68 carries, an average of 6.66 per attempt and 226.5 per game, with six rushing touchdowns.

A backfield with several contributors

Quarterback B. Gross has been Franklin's leading rusher, gaining 168 yards on 24 carries — 7.0 per attempt — with three touchdowns and a long run of 64 yards. He has not lost a fumble.

J. Kotrych has been the most explosive back on the roster, averaging 21.5 yards per carry. He has six carries for 129 yards and two touchdowns.

Z. Lanier has handled the heaviest workload of anyone on the team, taking 25 carries for 107 yards at a 4.28 average. C. Frundl has added 29 yards on seven carries, J. Greis has a rushing touchdown among his four attempts, and J. Chynoweth has a carry of his own.

• #10 B. Gross 168 yds 24 car · 7.0 avg · 3 TD · 64 long
• #0 J. Kotrych 129 yds 6 car · 21.5 avg · 2 TD
• #24 Z. Lanier 107 yds 25 car · 4.28 avg
• #12 C. Frundl 29 yds 7 car · 4.14 avg
• #4 J. Greis 10 yds 4 car · 1 TD
• #34 J. Chynoweth 4 yds 1 car

Brown hauls in the first touchdown

T. Brown leads Franklin's receivers with two catches for 40 yards and the team's first receiving touchdown of the season. His longest grab covered 36 yards.

M. Tramontana has two catches for 23 yards, Lanier has two for 20, and C. Vestevich has one for nine. Gross has thrown for 92 yards and the touchdown to Brown.

Five sacks from the front seven

Franklin's defense has been productive at the line of scrimmage, recording five sacks and 59 total tackles, 31 of them solo.

C. Dunnigan leads the team with two sacks, adding four tackles and a forced fumble. J. Chynoweth has six total tackles, a sack and a forced fumble. C. Brussow matches Chynoweth's six tackles and has a sack of his own. K. Walker has the fifth.

Frundl picked off Franklin's first interception of the season and has five tackles and a tackle for loss. B. Ruffin and L. Birdwell have five tackles apiece, and C. Vestevich has four.

• #44 C. Dunnigan 2 sacks 4 tackles · 1 FF
• #34 J. Chynoweth 6 tackles 1 sack · 1 FF
• #6 C. Brussow 6 tackles 1 sack
• #12 C. Frundl 5 tackles 1 TFL · 1 INT
• #23 B. Ruffin 5 tackles 2 solo · 3 assist
• #21 L. Birdwell 5 tackles 3 solo · 2 assist

Special teams

The Patriots have been perfect on extra points, converting all six attempts.

Gross has handled the punting, averaging 33.6 yards on five kicks with a long of 44 and one pinned inside the 20. Greis has returned five kickoffs for 50 yards, and Ruffin leads the team with a 16.0-yard average on three returns, including a long of 30.

Franklin has converted 44.4 percent of its third downs, eight in all.

What comes next

Franklin's schedule turns to Farmington in Week 3, the second of eight Lakes Valley Conference opponents on the slate. Livonia Stevenson and Livonia Churchill both remain on the calendar, along with Walled Lake Central, Walled Lake Northern, White Lake Lakeland and South Lyon East.

Statistics in this report come from a Hudl season statistics export provided to Livonia Thrive by Franklin coach Christopher Kelbert, covering two of nine scheduled games. This report is limited to Franklin's own tracked statistics.