Head coach Jess Curtis and the Southside Sharks know what they have in Kollen Francois.
And after Thursday’s performance against Lafayette High, so does the Mighty Lions.
Francois did a little bit of everything for the Sharks, en route to leading Southside to a 45-24 victory over the previously undefeated Lions.
“Kollen is a great football player,” Curtis said. “He’s a great athlete and he’s extremely fast. He did a great job.”
Francois wasted little time making an impact on the game, taking a toss on the first play of the game from quarterback Parker Dies and threw it to Kole Harris for a 47-yard gain down to the Lions’ nine-yard line. Three plays later, Dies scored on a one-yard touchdown run to give the Sharks a 7-0 lead.
“It was just something that we wanted to do, to try and get the guys going,” Curtis said of the halfback pass by Francois. “We are such a physical and downhill team, we just wanted to do something to have a little bit of fun.”
The fun continued in the second half for Francois, who after the Lions took the lead 17-14 on a 44-yard touchdown pass from Richmond Saunier to Jamieon Brown with 9:32 remaining in the third quarter, responded with another big play. This time, it was on special teams as Francois took the ensuing kickoff 98 yards for a touchdown to put the Sharks out in front for good at 21-17 with 9:17 left in the third.
“That return for a touchdown goes back to what we worked on in practice,” Francois said. “I just let it roll to me, stayed under control and hit the hole once it opened up. I got a great block from my teammate Jack Jones, and I just ran.”
“We have still yet to play our best game for four quarters,” Curtis said. “We have beaten some good teams lately in Westgate, Madison Prep and now Lafayette High. It was good to see us come on strong in the second half. We are built for that. I know you never want to peek too early, but we have to put four quarters together.”
In the loss, the Lions were led by Brown and Kaleb Faulk, who both had receiving touchdowns. Brown finished with 81 yards on four receptions, while Faulk’s lone catch was a 43-yard touchdown. Saunier passed for 103 yards and two touchdowns, while rushing for another score and Xzaban Williams rushed for 75 yards on 17 carries.
“It feels good to come in a hostile environment and get the victory,” Francois said. “We had a great game plan, and we executed the game plan to get the win.”