Fremd 25, Schaumburg 14
It turned out to be a very good week for Fremd junior running back Mike Gyetvay.
On Thursday, he traded for one of the hottest quarterbacks in fantasy football, Tony Romo of the Dallas Cowboys.
On Friday night, he was the hottest running back on the Hale Hildebrandt Field, rushing to a career-high 229 yards on 32 carries as Fremd grinded out a 25-14 victory over visiting Schaumburg to take over sole possession of first place in the Mid-Suburban West.
"I gave up a lot to trade for Romo," Gyetvay said with a big smile. "Hopefully, he'll step up for me this weekend."
Gyetvay sure stepped up for the No. 5 ranked Vikings (7-0, 3-0) but he was the first to credit his offensive line of Carl Comstock, James Norris, Robert Blodgett, Christian Lombard and Brett Stocker, who was replacing Kevin Fallon (illness).
"The goal of our offensive line was to get us 200 yards of rushing yardage," said Fremd coach Mike Donatucci. "When we're running the ball like we did, it makes playing defense a lot better."
With a front four of John LaPointe, Robert Balogh, Brett Opitz and Tim Dusek steering the way with Ben Perna out with a banged up shoulder, the Vikings held Schaumburg to 46 yards in the second half.
The Vikings' ball-control offense and stingy defense contributed to the Saxons running only 4 offensive plays in third quarter.
A 61-yard zig-zagging run by Saxons' quarterback Cody Logsdon on the first play of the game and a 70-yard TD strike from Logsdon to Anthony Ianotti with 1:39 left in the first half gave the visitors a 14-12 advantage at the intermission.
But Vikings senior kicker Mark Bappert booted field goals of 23 and 25 yards in the third quarter to give the hosts an 18-14 lead on Senior's Night.
"I really wanted to make them after missing an extra point in the first half," Bappert said. "I get so upset when I do that. I just cut my leg a little too hard on it.
"So to come back and get two on Senior's Night and help my team win is unbelievable. I got a great snap (Dusek) and great hold (Chris Doloughty). And if it wasn't for (quarterback) Mike Tolzien (12-for-23, 88 yards) and our O-line, I wouldn't be out there doing my job."
Vikings junior Mike Tauchman did his job, too, twice backing up Schaumburg (4-3, 2-1) deep inside its 10 with nifty coffin-corner punts.
"That kid (Gyetvay) runs extremely hard," said Schaumburg coach Mark Stilling. "They're offensively a well-coached team and obviously that was a factor.
"It certainly didn't help the way we tackled in the first half, but I thought we gave an inspired effort in the second half."
Donatucci praised the Saxons' defense.
"They kind of shut us down in the red zone and that's uncharacteristic of us," he said. "Their quarterback (Logsdon who threw for 128 yards and ran for 95) and running back (Mick Trimarco) are physical runners."