Fremd goes for it
Fremd was clinging to a 3-point lead and faced fourth-and-1 from its own 10-yard line as the clock wound under a minute Friday in its 17-16 Mid-Suburban West win at Palatine.
Timeout and time to send out the punt team, right?
Nope. Out came the offense, but quarterback Sam Beutler was going to try and see if he could draw Palatine into an encroachment call, right?
Wrong. After its final timeout, Beutler and the offense came out again.
"Finish it, finish it, finish it," Fremd coach Mike Donatucci said of the mindset that went into the decision of a team fighting to stay in playoff contention. "We haven't been able to do that all year. You have to give kids the opportunity to make plays."
And hard-working running back Justin Wallace did -- but there was a flag on the play.
"We wanted to do it and we would have gotten it," Wallace said of the illegal formation call. "With one more guy on the line we would have gotten it."
So on fourth-and-6 from the 5, Fremd wound up taking a delay penalty to put Beutler a couple of yards closer to the end zone to intentionally take a safety. But the initial decision went over big with the 3-4 Vikings, who have won two in a row and are pursuing a 16th straight playoff berth.
"It's huge that our coach would express that much confidence in us," said Fremd senior offensive lineman Brian Bobek. "It gives everyone else so much confidence, too."
So did second-half scoring drives of 65 and 70 yards going into Friday's visit by unbeaten Barrington. Fremd has a five-game winning streak and has taken nine of the last 10 in the series.
But it didn't look as if that game would mean much to Fremd when it trailed 14-3 at halftime at Palatine. Then Donatucci's son Tim and Bobek's dad Jeff spoke up.
"There were some halftime speeches from people who don't usually give speeches," Brian Bobek said of the two Fremd assistants. "That really helped motivate us since it came from two guys who don't normally take a big part in motivating our team. It really lit a spark under us."