WCU pens 15 on National Signing Day
02/03/2012
National Signing Day was held this week as high school athletes make their official decisions on where they’ll play at the college level.
Western Carolina and first year head coach Mark Speir are bringing in 17 (15 freshmen signed) players total with six quarterbacks, 4 offensive linemen, 2 defensive ends, 2 cornerbacks, as well as one linebacker, running back and wide receiver.
Ten of those incoming players are from the state of North Carolina with the remaining seven coming from out of state including three from Georgia, two from South Carolina, and one apiece from Florida and Texas.
Out of the 15 who signed with the Cats there was one local player of note as Murphy Quarterback Seth Curtis inked his letter of intent to play this fall.
Panthers take care of North Henderson in b-ball
02/01/2012
The Franklin Panther picked up a pair of conference wins in basketball Tuesday night at North Henderson.
The Lady Panthers won by a final of 56-25 and in the boy’s game Franklin defeated the Knights 74-65.
The regular season is winding down with just three games left. The Panthers will back at home this Friday against East Henderson.
Lady Panthers sweep Smoky, boys split on the season
01/30/2012
Conference play is coming down to the wire in western North Carolina basketball and the Franklin Panthers are in the hunt for a playoff spot. On Friday, Franklin hosted rival Smoky Mountain in the second round of the Battle of Cowee Mountain.
The Lady Panthers got it done as they won by a final of 67-51, but it was a different story in the boy’s game as the Panthers lose by 7. The final was Smoky Mountain 55, Franklin 48.
With four games left in the regular season, Franklin will travel to North Henderson to take on the Knights this Tuesday.
New Catamount Coach adds assistants
01/30/2012
Western Carolina first-year head football coach Mark Speir continues to build his coaching staff, announcing this week the addition of former Coastal Carolina defensive coordinator Curtis Walker and Pat Mills from Concord University to his inaugural staff. Walker will serve as the linebackers coach for WCU, while Mills, who played in 47 games on the offensive line at Appalachian State, will work with the Catamount tight ends.
Walker comes to Cullowhee after serving the past 10 years as the defensive coordinator and linebackers coach at Coastal Carolina, while Mills earned a year of coaching experience last season as the tight ends coach at Concord University in Athens, W.Va.
Pisgah too much for Franklin
01/25/2012
It was a tough night for the Franklin Panther basketball teams as they fall in Canton Tuesday night to Pisgah.
In the girl’s game the final was Pisgah 77, Franklin 54 and in the boy’s the Bears topped the Panthers by a final of 62-45.
Franklin will look to get back in the win column during this Friday’s Battle of Cowee Mountain when rival Smoky Mountain will come to the Panther Den.
Panthers sweep Brevard
01/24/2012
The Franklin Panther basketball teams scored two more wins in the conference on Friday, which will set up a key game on Tuesday night against Pisgah.
On Friday, the Lady Panthers had their way with Brevard winning by a final of 72-42 and in boy’s action, the Panthers looked solid as they top the Blue Devils 58-44.
The Lady Panthers are now 7-1 in the conference and the boys are 6-2.
Franklin hoops teams win at East Henderson
01/09/2012
On Friday, the Franklin Panther basketball teams continued their hot start by picking up conference wins at East Henderson.
In the girl’s game, the Lady Panthers won by a dominating 35 point margin, 70-35. They remain unbeaten in the conference.
And in the boy’s game the Panthers came out with a 63-47 victory over the Eagles and are now 4-1 in conference play.
The Panthers will host West Henderson in their next game on Tuesday.
Panther basketball rescheduled to Wednesday
01/03/2012
Tonight's basketball game against North Henderson has been cancelled and rescheduled for Wednesday, January 4, at the same times:
JV Girls starting at 4 p.m.
JV Boys at 5 p.m.
Varsity Girls at 6:30 p.m.
Varsity Boys at 8 p.m.
Panther Christmas Classic this week
12/27/2011
The annual Panther Christmas Basketball tournament gets underway today at Franklin High School. This year the tourney is starting one hour earlier.
The schedule for Tuesday features Franklin vs. Andrews at 6 p.m. and the winners will play the winners of West Oak and TC Roberson on Wednesday.
Games are scheduled for 3:00; 4:30; 6:00 and 7:30 each night.
Then on Thursday, the Panthers will host a home wrestling match against Hayesville starting at 4 pm. And then on Friday, more hoops action for the Panther as they host Swain beginning at 4 pm.
New coach Mark Speir breaths life into Catamount football program
12/23/2011
Mark Speir, who has spent much of his 21-year coaching career at the NCAA Football Championship Subdivision (FCS) level, was named the head football coach at Western Carolina University as announced by Director of Athletics Randy Eaton Thursday morning during a press conference held in the Ramsey Center.
Speir, who got his coaching career start at Western Carolina under former Catamount head coach Steve Hodgin from 1991-96, becomes the 13th head coach of the WCU football program all-time.
Speir returns to Cullowhee after spending the past nine seasons at Appalachian State where he was a part of three-consecutive FCS National Championships from 2005-07, serving as the program’s recruiting coordinator since 2004 while also most recently coaching the inside linebackers.
In 2009, Speir was tabbed as the NCAA Division I FCS Assistant Coach of the Year by the American Football Coaches Association (AFCA).
Prior to Appalachian, Speir also made coaching stops at both at Presbyterian (1997-99) while the Blue Hose were a NCAA Division II member institution, and at Elon (2000-02) the year after the program made the transition to a NCAA Division I school.
A native of Kannapolis, N.C., Speir broke into coaching while an undergraduate at Clemson University, working as a student assistant from 1986 through 1989, helping the Tigers to three Atlantic Coast Conference (ACC) Championships during his four years. Following his graduation with a bachelor’s degree in secondary education in 1990, Speir landed on Hodgin’s staff in Cullowhee, first working with the running backs from 1991-93, then the linebackers in 1994 before coaching the defensive line and serving as the program’s recruiting coordinator from 1995-
FHS Senior scores 2,000th point in conference win
12/15/2011
Another milestone was reached for Franklin Lady Panther Lindsay Simpson as the senior scored her 2,000th point for the Panthers on Tuesday against Pisgah.
Coming into the game, Simpson needed 5 to break 2,000 which she did a just few minutes into the first quarter.
The game was stopped after the bucket and Simpson was given the game ball. She ended up with 23 points on the night as the Lady Panthers defeated Pisgah 61-56.
Panthers tip off hoops season
12/07/2011
The 2011-2012 basketball season tipped off Tuesday night for the Franklin Panthers with a visit to TC Roberson.
The Lady Panthers fell in the opener by a final of 59-42. We caught up with Lady Panther head coach Scott Hartbarger and he says with some new faces on the team they’re learning how to play together.
“This year we have some freshmen and sophomores that have moved up and we start two juniors, a freshman and two seniors, so we’re relatively young,” said Hartbarger. “Right now, it’s just a matter of working together and working on our team chemistry. That’s one of the biggest things we try to work on everyday.”
The girls, led by senior Lindsay Simpson will look to reclaim the WNCAC Conference championship they won in the 2009-2010 season. Hartbarger believes defending champs Tuscola and a much improved Smoky Mountain team will be tough foes in the conference this year.
In boy’s varsity action, the Panthers also lost a tough against the Rams by a final of 56-49. Both teams will try to break into the win column on Friday when they open conference play at Brevard.
Proposed conference realignment would mean big changes for FHS
12/01/2011
The North Carolina High School Athletic Association has released its first draft of a conference restructure that would pit Franklin in a strictly 2-A league beginning in 2013-2014 school year.
In this initial draft the association is eliminating split conferences and assuming Franklin will be re-classified as a 2-A school they will be in the same division as Smoky Mountain, Brevard, Owen, Mountain Heritage, Hendersonville, and Madison.
The second draft for the re-alignment is due out in February and next May the conferences changes are expected to be made final.
Franklin falls to Burns in round three
11/21/2011
A history-making season has come to a close for the Franklin Panther football team as they fall in round three of state playoffs on Friday.
The Panthers were defeated by the visiting Burns Bulldogs by a final of 28-14 in a game where Franklin struggled to find much offense.
Burns would take an early 21-0 lead, but just before the first half expired, the Panthers would find the end zone with a reverse play that turned into a halfback pass from Jeb Brewer to Parrish Young.
The second half was much closer with each team scoring just one touch down, but Burns holds off Franklin and will advance to round four of the playoffs against West Rowan.
The Panthers finish the season with an incredible record of 13 wins and one loss. Congratulations to Franklin for an unforgettable 2011 season.
Franklin welcomes Burns into the Pit for tonight's round three battle
11/18/2011
The highly anticipated match up between the Franklin Panthers and Burns Bulldogs will take place tonight at the Panther Pit in Round three of the state playoffs.
Franklin at 13-0 is coming off a win against East Henderson in round two and Burns at 12-1, defeated Hickory last week.
Tonight’s contest will most likely be a battle of physicality and speed. The Panthers have proven they are tough to be at home going 17-2 at the Pit over the last three seasons.
Franklin Head Coach talks about their opponent tonight and what’ll they bring to the Pit, “This will be the finest football team we’ve played all year. They’ve got a very veteran quarterback that’s got better than 7,000 yards passing; a running back that has had a tremendous senior season and a defense that is very physical, athletic and very big. It will be the greatest challenge we’ve had, but at this point and stage of the game why would we expect anything less? I feel like they’ve got some things to be concerned about too,” Brooks said.
The community and businesses are encouraged to show their support for the Panthers today.
We’ll have more about tonight’s showdown coming up. Kickoff is set 7:30 p.m.