A mistake-filled beginning by Gilbert Christian turned a highly anticipated 3A game into four-score deficit a minute into the second quarter.

A dropped punt snap, an interception and turnover on downs is no way to start any game.

When it comes while playing the No. 1 ranked team in the conference?

Less than ideal.

“Against a team as good as Ben Franklin you have to play a clean game,” Gilbert Christian coach John Carlson said. “We were far from that early and couldn’t sustain drives. They were the more physical team, better coached team today.”

Benjamin Franklin won handily 43-6 Friday in a 3A Metro game between two undefeated and first place on the line.

The Chargers (7-0, 3-0) scored on its first possession, going 80 yards, which was finished off with Christian Sorensen’s 49-yard catch and run after Gavin Wyler hit him in stride.

The Ben Franklin offense was essentially handed the keys the red zone after that thanks to miscues by the Knights (6-1, 2-1) and the Ben Franklin defense.

The next three possessions started at the Gilbert Christian 1-yard line, 18 and 23 after the flubbed punt snap, an interception by Ty Sather and a tackle for a loss on a fourth-and-2 from the 29.

All three ended with Ben Franklin finishing off the drives with six points as Landon Stetka scored the second and fourth touchdowns on short runs with Sather picking up a touchdown pass to finish off the drive he set up with the interception.

“The field position was huge especially with our smart offensive players,” Norris said. “Our coordinators know how to put us in a position to make those plays. Our defense helped us out a ton tonight.”

Giving an offense a short is always trouble, but when it comes against an offense as capable as Ben Franklin there’s going to be some ramifications.

The Chargers feature the decision making and accuracy of Wyler, a physical offensive line led by Ammon Alexander, tough inside runs by Stetka and an athletic wide receiver corps – led by Talan Speir (9 catches, 156 yards) – to put the pressure on any defense let alone one that has no time to rest or have much room for error with the drives starting inside the red zone time and again.

“We had to clap them early and shut them down,” Alexander said. “We came out firing and made sure we made a statement early.”

As much as the Chargers lit up the scoreboard early, it was more of a function of short fields than it was pure domination as the Knights defense, which played without state sack leader Hyatt Lang (sprained ankle), continued to play hard throughout.

“I’m actually proud of the defense,” Carlson said. “They were put in a bad position but they battled and did a good job when they weren’t backed up. The effort never waned and that’s all about character and we showed a lot of it tonight. We kind of need to regroup and be ready to go.”

The only score for the Knights came via the defense as senior cornerback Kamari Stanbury snagged a tipped ball and zigzagged his way for an 85-yard pick six.

The Knights offense came into the game 41.2 points a game and 346 yards of offense a game. The Chargers defense – led by sophomore middle linebacker Tillman Grant, junior linebacker Ashton Goddard, senior defensive lineman Landon Madsen and Sather – held them out of the end zone and less than 60 yards of total offense.

“They play for each other,” Norris said. “They play with a pure passion, and we fly 11 hats to the ball. We talk about 100 percent effort, 100 percent of the time. These guys live it. They book it to the ball, and they do it for each other just as much as they do it for themselves – if not more.”

Both teams head into a bye week before coming back to make a run at the 3A playoffs with the first set of power rankings coming out Tuesday.

“The bye comes at perfect time,” Carlson said. “We’ve been playing really well, and clearly made some mistakes in this game, but we can come back from break and be ready to finish off the regular season strong.”

Norris, who is 25-6 since taking over the program after leaving Gilbert Christian, had similar sentiments about how the rest of the season sets up for the Chargers.

“We get this week off to take care of some bumps and bruises,” he said. “We play in a tough region and we’re at the top right now. If we want to stay there and then compete for the state title, we need to clean some things up and be ready to go when we get back after it.”