Plenty of drama, intrigue in another classic
Michael Sahli was able to perfectly summarize what might have been the most classic of all the Fremd and Palatine cross-town football classics on Friday night.
"I've never been in a football game like this," the Fremd senior linebacker said as his teammates wildly celebrated a stunning 17-16 victory filled with drama and intrigue from start to finish. "(Palatine) is great and I've played with most of them since pee-wee football in the seventh grade. It was a great win."
Classic and great are words tossed out too often and too quickly. That wasn't the case Friday night before a gigantic crowd where two teams were fighting for much more than bragging rights.
"It was a gutsy performance by our kids flat out," said Fremd coach Mike Donatucci.
An inadvertent whistle took away a 36-yard touchdown run by Sam Beutler on the game's second play. At halftime the deficit was 14-3 as Fremd was already down to four losses and out of the playoffs for the first time in 16 years.
"Everything was on the line," said senior running back-linebacker Justin Wallace. "Our backs were against the wall and we came out firing."
The offensive line took control as Wallace bulled his way to tough first downs. Freshman quarterback Sam Beutler kept showing a senior's poise to lead two long scoring drives and throw the winning 37-yard touchdown pass to Jeff Diegel.
The defense came through with crucial plays against the dangerous Cody Bobbit and his deep crew of threats. The Vikings went for it on fourth-and-1 at their own 10 in the final minute and would have gotten the first down but was called for an illegal formation penalty.
And there was a scary moment with 17 seconds left when Jeff Parham was knocked cold on a return of a free kick after Fremd took a safety. Donatucci said Parham was OK after he was conscious and taken off the field on a stretcher.
It was just another obstacle for the Vikings to overcome.
"With all the adversity they've been through," Donatucci said, "this was just a testament to their will and character."
mmaciaszek@dailyherald.com