With the game between No. 15 Dundalk and Franklin — and first place in the Baltimore County Division I football standings — on the line in the waning seconds Friday night in Reisterstown, the Owls’ defenders finished off a spectacular performance by making one last stand to preserve a taut 7-0 victory.

Trailing by a touchdown late in the fourth quarter, the Indians (4-3) had used a long punt return by sophomore Anthony Gibson to embark on their final drive from the Dundalk 33-yard line in a bid to either send the game into overtime or win it outright despite being held to less than 100 yards from scrimmage until that point.

Franklin’s fortunes were looking even better after senior quarterback Billy Hartman and junior wideout Kahlil Bilal had connected on a 19-yard pass play to set up shop at the Owls’ 14-yard line with 90 seconds remaining in regulation.

Yet Dundalk’s defense was not in a yielding mood, and Hartman’s final passing attempts went for naught as the Owls hung on to improve to 5-1 this season.

”We made some tough stops,” Dundalk coach Tom Abel said about a defense that used interceptions by seniors Eric Coates and Kamari Brathwaite and junior Adonis Fuller to frustrate the trio of quarterbacks employed by Franklin coach Anthony Burgos in a futile attempt to avoid a shutout.

Senior Dale Martin was one of a plethora of Owls who made life miserable for the Indians’ offense by producing a pair of key sacks in the second half.

”I was supposed to guard No. 5 (Gibson),” Martin said about his second sack that almost halted Franklin’s final drive before Hartman found Bilal on the very next play. “But (teammates) Kevaun (Briscoe) told me to blitz — and I got on my horse. I had tunnel vision going for the quarterback.”

Although praising Dundalk’s ‘D’ is warranted, Franklin’s ability to hold the Owls to one score — a 14-yard pass from senior quarterback Ja Bonner to Brathwaite late in the first half — was also noteworthy.

While the Indians didn’t stonewall the usually potent Owls’ ground game, they kept it mostly under wraps.

”A nine-man front will do that,” Abel said. “But we knew that they would do that.”

Even so, battering-ram senior running back Jordan Fiorenza (21 carries, 122 yards) managed to eclipse the 100-yard mark for the sixth time this season while also breaching the 1,000-yard plateau.”

Jordan makes his own holes,” Abel said about the runner’s ability to carry tacklers with him.

Franklin’s offense, which finally managed to gain over 100 yards, had some success with the wildcat, although it wasn’t enough to sustain drives.

Abel said that he used “high pressure” schemes and different blitzes to halt the Indians’ forays.

”We had seen a lot of what they did on tape,” he added.

Likewise, Burgos was well aware of what makes Dundalk’s running attack so lethal.

”Our main focus was to contain No. 3 (Fiorenza),” he said. “We have a few games left, and we still need to try to figure out who we are.”

NO. 15 DUNDALK 7, FRANKLIN 0

Dundalk 0 7 0 0 — 7

Franklin 0 0 0 0 — 0

Second quarter

Dundalk-Kamari Brathwaite 14 pass from Ja Bonner (Jason Keener kick)