Football Friday: Franklin vs. Bainbridge

Friday night is shaping up to be a soggy square-off between two teams heading in different directions.

The Franklin Quakers come into Bainbridge’s Memorial Stadium without a win this year (0-3 league, 0-5 overall) and the shadow of last week’s 38-6 loss at Lakeside.

The Spartans host a team that’s been lightning struck for years, with multiple coaches spinning in and out of the Franklin program over the past decade amid winless season after winless season.

The Quakers didn’t win a league matchup last year, or in 2015, either. (Franklin did notch an OT 41-40 win against W.J. Mouat Secondary of Abbotsford, B.C. that season — the team’s first win since 2013.)

This year’s squad will be led by Coach Curtis Delgardo, who came aboard in August.

Delgardo, who played in the NFL with the San Diego Chargers and in the CFL with the Saskatchewan Roughriders, is a former standout player at Portland State University. He was the NCAA Division I West Region Player of the Year in 1988, as well as the conference’s rushing leader in 1987, 1988 and 1990. Delgardo was inducted into the Portland State University Hall of Fame in 1999.

Franklin has shown some improvement this year, however, over seasons’ past.

The Quakers have twice cracked the double-digit mark in scoring, both times in September (20-34 in the opening season loss against North Creek; and 18-19 in the heartbreaker against Sammamish).

That said, Friday’s game will be a tough night for the Quakers, a team short on players and even shorter on depth.

Former running back Nikeari Richardson (junior, 5’11, 180) is expected to start at quarterback.

Bainbridge, meanwhile, is looking for its fourth win of the season and the second back-to-back victory of the year.

Last week, the team (2-1, 3-3) triumphed 42-8 over Sammamish.

And it’s also Homecoming Night for the Spartan squad, who will wrap up the regular season next week on the road at Chief Sealth.

Kickoff is at 7 p.m.