Franklin has had success keeping standouts home; keeps improving heading into BCC National Silver clash at Edison Friday

Four weeks into Blair Wilson’s fourth season as Franklin’s head coach, it’s all starting to come together for the Warriors. With 95 points (14 touchdowns) over the last two weeks, Wilson is finally seeing the offense he envisioned when he handed the keys to then-freshman quarterback Jah’Naad Cady in August of 2023.

It wasn’t without bumps and bruises. The Warriors went 3-8 in 2023 and then lost 6-of-7 to finish 4-6 in 2024. When Cady would struggle, Wilson would remind him of the vision: “By the time you’re a junior, it’ll start feeling like Pop Warner again.”

Cady is completing almost 80 percent of his passes this season for 576 yards and five touchdowns. He’s also run for almost 300 yards and five more scores. Franklin has scored 14 touchdowns the last two weeks, and Cady has contributed to eight of them.

“I threw him in the fire his freshman year, and this is where I thought he would be come his junior year,” Wilson says.

It will be a true litmus test for Cady and Franklin Friday night when the Warriors (2-2) visit Edison (1-3) in the “Big Central Game of the Week” presented by Bellamy & Son Paving. Kickoff is at 7 pm, with Mike Pavlichko and Justin Sontupe on the call. Pregame starts at 6:45; Click here to listen.

Franklin last beat Edison in 2020, their first-ever meeting. It was the opening game of the COVID season, and played at neither high school, but at the Pop Warner field – where it all started for Cady – at Middlebush Park.

Despite a loss in their rematch in 2022 – close calls in 2023 and 2024 – the Warriors haven’t been able to get over the hump against the Eagles since. But with Cady surging in his third-year as a starter, a major opportunity for this red-hot Franklin offense awaits.

Click below to hear Franklin head coach Blair Wilson talk about the Warriors and Friday’s game against Edison with Central Jersey Sports Radio’s Justin Sontupe: