Vikings go long way to third victory

Third-and-long? Not a problem.

Faced with a long field, a 1-point deficit and a dwindling clock, Fremd rallied behind the clutch pass-and-catch combination of Mike Tauchman to Andrew Corso for an improbable 14-7 Mid-Suburban League crossover football victory at Rolling Meadows on Friday.

Improbable considering Meadows (2-2) outplayed the Vikings in the first half. The Mustangs outgained Fremd 199 yards to 68 and led 7-0 thanks to Jimmy Garoppolo's 1-yard run with 1:23 left in the first quarter. Garoppolo completed 10-of-13 passes for 136 yards in the first half and finished 11-of-16 for 158.

Adding to the improbability was the fact Meadows had the ball inside the Fremd 20 for 11 plays in the second quarter and came away empty. A holding call negated a Garoppolo to Mick Viken scoring pass, which led to a blocked field goal, Fremd's third of the year. A late interception by James Szafranski kept the Mustangs out of the end zone.

"We could have been down 17-0 at the half," said Fremd coach Mike Donatucci.

Fremd (3-1) cut the margin to 7-6 with 7:09 left in the third on Mike Gyetvay's 1-yard run, capping an 11-play, 72-yard drive. Gyetvay finished with 84 yards on 24 carries.

Tauchman's interception of a Garoppolo pass on his own 8 set the stage for the winning drive.

On third-and-9 from the 9, Tauchman hit Corso (8 receptions, 135 yards) for 14 and a first down. On third-and-9 from the 36, Tauchman scrambled 10 yards. On third-and-9 from the 43, Tauchman and Corso hooked up again for 28 yards.

The final big conversion was a 26-yard scoring pass to Corso on third-and-18 with 5:55 left in the game. Evan Wright ran it in for the 2-point conversion.

"We didn't compete for the ball very well," Meadows coach Doug Millsaps said. "They made plays, and we didn't. We've got to find a way to make one of those stops."

"We've been working real hard since February," the 6-foot-4 Corso said.

"He's a great receiver," Tauchman (11-of-18, 166 yards) said of Corso. "He has great hands. I just put it high and he goes up and gets it."

The go-ahead points energized the Fremd defense. On successive plays, Ben Perna, playing his first game of the season after recovering from an injury, tackled Steve Orchell for a 3-yard loss on a reverse and then sacked Garoppolo for a 4-yard loss.

"I was dead, gasping for air," Perna said of the second-quarter stretch where the defense was on the field for 22 out of 23 plays. "That touchdown fueled us tremendously."