Fremd powers past Prospect
Fremd parlayed success on first down into a 47-3 romp over Prospect on Saturday afternoon in Mt. Prospect in a game rescheduled due to a power outage Friday night.
The Vikings averaged nearly 6 yards per first down play as the Vikings turned things around offensively from the previous wheek, when they were able to run just 40 plays against Lake Zurich.
"Success on first downs is the key to our offense," Fremd coach Lou Sponsel said. "We challenged our kids up front and our backs to run harder and at a faster speed and for for our wideouts to stay on their blocks."
Fremd showed its dominance on offense with its first possession. With Dominic Lombard, Will Pankratz, Jack Albrecht, Kyle Saxon and Jake Plantz blocking up front, the Vikings went 56 yards in 9 plays, all of which were running plays. Jawan Gaines, who finished with 108 yards on 14 carries, scored on a jet sweep to make it 7-0.
"Up front, we didn't execute as well as we wanted to last week," Lombard said. "We came together this week and bonded as a group. It showed out there today."
Gaines said he noticed the difference in the offensive line play this week.
"None of this would have happened without our offensive line," Gaines said. "I love my linemen. They were blocking amazing out there. We got it all fixed after last week. After our loss we took it hard, but we came back as a team."
The Vikings continued to control the ball and the clock as Fremd ran 36 first-half plays. Cordell Finley, who came on at times to relieve starting quarterback Nick Bossong, who is nursing a sore shoulder, scored on an 8-yard run on the first play of the second quarter. Later in the period, Jeff Gill tallied on a 5-yard run to make it 21-0.
"We want to be able to run," said Sponsel, whose team piled up 379 yards rushing and 440 yards of total offense.
Prospect (0-2) mounted its only scoring drive late in the half. The Knights moved the ball to the Fremd 22 where Jack Pruban booted a 39-yard field goal.
Fremd picked up where it left off in the second half.
Bossong, who returned to the game, broke of a 37-yard touchdown run as the Vikings began to pull away with a 28-3 lead early in the third quarter.
The Fremd defense led by Patrick McMahon, Jack Hanson, Erik Nelson Jake Haas, Ryan Haas, and Ken Lyke allowed just 137 total yards. The defense, which forced two turnovers, got into the scoring act when Ryan Haas picked up a fumble and went 36 yards for a touchdown to up the lead to 34-3.
"We executed this week," Sponsel said. "Last week it was one guy at a time. It felt this week that it was 11 guys all on the same page."
The Vikings added two touchdowns in the final period to get the clocking running, Finley connected with Gaines on a 31-yard touchdown pass.
"I really want to thank Nick Bossong for all that he has been teaching me," said Finley, who rushed for 99 yards on 8 carries and was 5-of-6 for 61 yards. "I feel a lot more comfortable out there. I am feeling a bond between myself and my linemen. I can stay in the pocket and trust them no matter what."
Gaines later closed out the scoring with an 11-yard run.