Siegel quarterback Brent Stockstill said if the storm clouds stayed away, he was going to hit Franklin with a first strike Friday night.
The weather held off, and the Stars rained down on the Rebels for a 53-7 rout, sparked by Stockstill's 80-yard touchdown pass to Tae Martin on the first play.
"If it was raining, we were probably going to start with a simple run or something," Stockstill said. "But if the weather cooperated, we were going to go with a little play-action and hit Tae on a go-route. We got what we wanted.
"It was awesome. You can't start a season better than that."
Both on the field and on the scoreboard, Siegel kept Franklin in chase mode all night.
Stockstill passed for 250 yards in the first half alone. He finished 16-of-20 for 288 yards and two TDs. Martin had seven receptions for 176 yards and two TDs, plus a third score on a 73-yard punt return.
After the initial score, Stockstill ran in a two-point conversion for an 8-0 lead. Franklin countered with a nine-play, 77-yard scoring drive, capped by Joe Critchlow's 24-yard TD pass to Garrison Matthews on fourth-and-5. But Siegel took off from there, scoring 45 unanswered points.
"It's always nice to get a win like that to get started," Siegel coach Greg Wyant said. "The tempo of our offense hurts people sometimes. We can wear people down pretty quick."
Early in the second quarter, another deep ball -- this one a 47-yarder from Stockstill to Martin -- set up Denzel Harding's 4-yard TD run for an 18-7 advantage.
Franklin lost a fumble on its second play of the ensuing possession, and it was recovered by Siegel senior John Simpson, who also had a pair of third-down sacks that halted Franklin drives.
"I guess the sacks were big, and one of the fumbles just kind of popped into my hands," said Simpson, who had two fumble recoveries on the night. "But I think the whole defense was hyped after we scored on the first play. We were scoring so fast, I was kind of hoping the offense would stay out there a little longer so we could rest."
