Fremd gives Donatucci retirement gift

Fremd gave Mike Donatucci a nice retirement gift.

The Vikings sent their head coach out with his 137th victory in 19 years as they beat Hoffman Estates 44-14 on Friday night at Garber Stadium.

“It meant the world to us,” said Fremd defensive end Alejandro Suero, who had 2 sacks, a tackle for a loss and 3 stops for no gain. “There is nothing else we wanted more than to win this game for ‘Tucc’ and send him out on a good note.”

Fremd (4-5, 2-3) also started out well in the Mid-Suburban West finale as it took a 21-0 lead 2:37 before halftime. Sophomore quarterback Sam Beutler (10-for-18, 114 yards) ran for a 13-yard touchdown and hit Greg Money for an 11-yard score and A.J. McGhee (17 carries, 93 yards) had an 8-yard touchdown run.

But Hoffman (0-9, 0-5) didn’t make it easy on Donatucci and the Vikings as it tried to avoid its sixth winless season and second in three years. A 1-yard touchdown run by senior quarterback Jordan Hudak (126 yards passing, 85 rushing) cut the deficit to 21-6 with 5:07 left in the third.

“I told him he’s the most durable kid I’ve ever seen,” said Hoffman coach Bill Helzer. “He’s taken shots and he didn’t miss a snap all season.”

But Fremd put it away in the fourth after Keith Browning’s interception. Beutler hit Matt Isola for a 35-yard touchdown, Robin DeFreitas had a safety and David Mellado ran for 12- and 27-yard touchdowns.

“I was happy we were able to get a lot of seniors in who hadn’t been able to play,” an emotional Donatucci said with his wife Joy. “That was one of our goals.”

Hudak threw a 9-yard touchdown to Matt Mednus on the final play. Senior Eric Saubert suffered a dislocated shoulder on his second sack of the game but senior linebacker Alex Garcia was able to come back from an injury to play this week.

“The senior class won 1 game in four years and we still had 26 of them, which says a lot about them,” Helzer said. “I’m proud of them. I don’t know how many kids would go through that and they did.”