Franci passes Lloyd on Empire wins list

<p>The newly crowned winningest football coach in Empire history just might be the gutsiest, too.</p><p>With his team trailing Maria Carrillo by one point with two minutes and 11 seconds left Friday night, Montgomery coach Jason Franci had a decision to make: Kick an extra point and prepare for a likely overtime. Or go for two points and the victory.</p><p>Franci, 66, rolled the dice and came out a winner as senior quarterback Max Heller rolled right and drilled tight end Brannon Blank for the 2-point conversion. The play gave the Vikings a 15-14 victory and at least a share of the North Bay League title while Franci passed Ed Lloyd as the Empire's winningest coach with his 218th career victory in his 30th year at Montgomery.</p><p>As Franci has crept closer to Lloyd this season, he's done his best to deflect any praise. And he did the same when asked about his decision to go for two points.</p><p>The 2-pointer was set up by Heller's 4-yard scoring pass to Nick Swain.</p><p>"It was not just my decision," said Franci, who initially sent his placekicking unit on the field before calling back-to-back timeouts to discuss the decision with his staff. "It was a coaches' decision. We got together as coaches and the kids were all for it so, hell's bells, we went for it."</p><p>But didn't Franci have the final say in the matter?</p><p>"Well, sure, I've got final say," Franci said. "But for one time it was a democratic process. For one time in (30) years."</p><p>Heller, a senior, delivered the game-winning pass and he also set up the 2-point conversion with some late-game heroics for the second straight week.</p><p>With the Vikings (7-2, 6-0 in NBL) trailing 14-7 with 3:47 left, Heller put on a one-man show on a five-play, 80-yard, 86-second drive.</p><p>Heller, who entered the drive with 95 yards passing, completed 4 of 4 passes for 61 yards, threw a 4-yard touchdown pass to Nick Swain and began the march with a 15-yard run. He set up the touchdown with a 44-yard bomb to Brannon Asche down the left sideline.</p><p>The 5-foot-8, 170-pound Heller (13 of 18, 159 yards), who led the Vikings on a last-ditch, game-winning drive in last week's 18-7 win against Santa Rosa, completed his last eight passes and had 34 of his 40 rushing yards in the final four minutes.</p><p>"The rollouts and sprintouts we were calling were good for me. That helped me see over the defense," Heller said. "I always felt like we were going to win because that's our mentality. Coach calls us the cardiac kids because we give him a heart attack every game."</p><p>And Heller might have given the gutsy Pumas a broken heart.</p><p>Maria Carrillo (4-5, 4-2), who fell to 0-13 all-time against the Vikings, rallied from a 7-0 third-quarter deficit and seemingly had the game in hand late in the fourth quarter.</p><p>The Pumas, who outgained Montgomery 312-262, had a 14-7 lead and first-and-10 at the Vikings' 20-yard line with five minutes left. But Maria Carrillo was forced to attempt a field goal, a 37-yard attempt by placekicker/quarterback Hunter Odom that fell less than a yard short with 3:47 left.</p><p>Odom also missed field goals of 43 and 36 yards and the Pumas were stuffed on fourth-and-2 at Montgomery's 6-yard line on the first play of the second quarter.</p><p>"That's a tough loss," Pumas coach Jay Higgins said. "What makes it so hard is that it felt like we had it and it got away from us."</p><p>Trailing 7-0 late in the third quarter, Maria Carrillo changed the momentum on a brilliant hook-and-ladder play down the right sideline. Facing third-and-14 at Montgomery's 47, Odom tossed a 17-yard pass to Matt Hewson. In one seamless motion, Hewson pitched to running back Sam Atoe, who streaked the final 30 yards into the end zone.</p><p>"We keep that in our pocket if we ever need it," Higgins said. "And there it was."</p><p>The Pumas missed the extra point, but took a 14-7 lead less than three minutes later after stuffing a fake punt by Montgomery. Odom sneaked in from 1 yard out and Atoe (18 carries, 124 yards) ran in the 2-point conversion attempt with 46 seconds left in the third quarter.</p><p>The 14 points in less than three minutes stunned the Vikings, who had allowed just 12 points in the previous 14 quarters.</p><p>"Maria Carrillo played a great game," Montgomery offensive lineman Jay Luchetti said. "They came out real tough against us and I wasn't expecting that."</p><p>Indeed, it was a game filled with surprises, none bigger than the game-winning 2-point conversion on which Franci called "Motion Right 523," a four-receiver set in which Heller lined up in the shotgun and Blank, a 6-4 senior, went in motion. Heller's options were to throw to Blank or to run the ball himself.</p><p>Blank figured the ball would come his way, knowledge that gave the play a surreal, slow-motion quality.</p><p>"That," Blank said, "was the slowest play I've ever experienced in my life."</p><p>And the play also made Franci the only coach with 218 wins in Empire history. But the old coach wasn't looking for kudos in the aftermath of a game his cardiac team improbably pulled out.</p><p>"I don't feel any different," Franci said. "But I am ready for a beer."</p><p>For more Empire high school sports coverage, please visit Eric Branch's prep sports blog at prepsports.blogs.pressdemocrat.com. You can reach Staff Writer Eric Branch at 521-5268 or eric.branch@pressdemocrat.com.</p>