MEADVILLE — With a kick to the side and a pep in his step, Hunter Hatcher helped give the Franklin County Bulldogs a narrow 3-2 victory over Crystal Springs in area soccer action Friday night.

Hatcher’s game-winning goal, which came at the 4-minute mark of the second period, helped seal the deal on non-district varsity win for the Bulldogs.

In the girls’ game, two goals by Karlee Mullins and sophomore April Watson led the Franklin County Lady Bulldogs to a dominating 4-2 victory over the Crystal Springs Lady Tigers. Franklin County’s new 1-2 punch in Mullins and Watson, plus some solid defense wowed the crowd in Louie Mullins Memorial Stadium.

The Bulldogs (9-5), coached by Brad Mullins used goals from Matthew Lofton and Kin Mullins to tie Crystal Springs, before Hatcher knocked the Tigers out with his game-winning kick.

“We didn’t play too good, but we got the win,” said Bulldog head coach Brad Mullins following the game. “We’ve got two non-district games remaining (Sacred Heart and Natchez) before we got back into district play. We’ve got to win out in district.”

Franklin County currently stands 1-2 inside the district race and tied for third place with Loyd Star, behind Cathedral and North Pike. The Bulldogs will play all four teams over the next three weeks, to decide playoff positioning.

The top two teams from each soccer district earn playoff invites.

As for the Lady Bulldogs (7-6), sub-freshmen standout Karlee Mullins netted her Class 3A leading 13th and 14th goals of the season to keep Crystal Springs at bay. April Watson added two goals to insure the Lady Bulldogs win.