3A Playoffs | Do-it-all Armstrong leads Franklin Pierce
PARKLAND - When Franklin Pierce quarterback Erich Armstrong left for school Friday morning, his dad, David, told him he needed to see some Steve Young out of him.
That night, Armstrong did his best Young imitation, running and passing sixth-ranked Franklin Pierce past No. 9 Eastside Catholic 24-20 in a Class 3A preliminary playoff game at Franklin Pierce High School.
Franklin Pierce (10-0) will face Nathan Hale next weekend in the round of 16. Eastside Catholic ended its season at 8-2.
Armstrong nearly wasn’t around very long Friday. He intercepted a pass on the fourth play of the game but was injured on the tackle. He stayed on the sideline for seven plays before returning. He completed his first pass and never slowed down after that, leading Franklin Pierce back from a 7-3 deficit.
Armstrong completed 15 of 26 passes for 180 yards and two touchdowns. He also ran for 67 yards along with a TD and picked off three passes. Just another night’s work for one of the top players in the state.
“I’ll do whatever the team asks me to do,” said Armstrong. “I’ll put the team on my shoulders if I have to. These are my guys. I’ll do what it takes for them and for us to win.”
Eastside Catholic put early and late scares into Franklin Pierce. The Crusaders took a 7-3 lead on quarterback Chris Traynor’s 1-yard sneak. It was the first TD allowed by Franklin Pierce in the first quarter this year.
Eastside Catholic didn’t help itself with four first-half turnovers (five for the game) but did get big efforts from running backs Mike Bush (134 yards) and Marion Bactol (99 yards).
Meanwhile, Armstrong was steady and gave the Cardinals a 10-7 lead on 5-yard TD pass to Aram Mann with 11:10 left in the second quarter. Armstrong provided some more Young-type highlights on the next drive, completing one pass while in the grasp of a defender and running out of another tackle before finishing the drive off with an 18-yard TD strike to Garret Gunderson for a 17-7 lead.
Eastside Catholic made it close again in the fourth quarter, closing to 24-20 with 9:31 left when Andrew Carlton caught a tipped pass for a 13-yard TD. Eastside Catholic later was driving, but Armstrong’s third pick of the game with 3:30 left preserved the win for Franklin Pierce.