Fremd gets fierce, nixes New Trier
Fremd has been waiting to unleash its ground game this season, and the Vikings found the right opportunity in their Central Suburban League versus Mid-Suburban League crossover game on Friday night.
The Vikings pounded New Trier into submission with a decisive 45-28 victory in Palatine on Friday night.
"We came into this season and wanted to be a running team," said Fremd coach Lou Sponsel. "We stayed true to our commitment to the run tonight and played Iron Will football."
The Vikings scored first with 6:37 left in the first quarter on a 10-yard run by Jake Haas. Luke Schoffstall converted the point-after touchdown. The scoring drive was setup after Fremd's Austin Schwantz caused and recovered a Trevian fumble.
New Trier tied the game up with a 4-yard run from Max Rosenthal at the start of the second quarter. Sam Rutherford converted the PAT.
The Trevians took the lead at 14-7 on a 35-yard pass from quarterback Clay Czyzynski to Jackson Bilello. Rutherford converted.
The New Trier lead woke up the Vikings as they managed to put 17 unanswered points on the board in the final 6:01 of the first half. Quarterback Tom Josten scored on a 1-yard sneak and threw a 22-yard touchdown pass to junior Ben Konopka. Schoffstall converted both PAT's and added a 36-yard field goal as time expired in the first half with Frmed leading 24-14.
The Trevians received the second-half kickoff and drove 57 yards for a touchdown. Czyzynski scored on a 12-yard run and Rutherford converted.
However, the Vikings answered the scoring drive with a 14-play, 80 yard drive of their own. Josten scored on a 1-yard run and Schoffstall converted.
Fremd got an 11-yard touchdown run from Joe Schneider and a 1-yard run from Alec Honickel in the fourth quarter to ice the game for Fremd. Schoffstall made both trys.
The Vikings put up 276 yards on the ground behind the offensive line of Schwantz, Max Carver, Jake Flemming, Matt Payne, Ethan Hanson and Zack Nemec.
"We are starting to learn how to play as a team," Sponsel said. "We challenged Austin this week in practice and told him he had to be a leader on this team. He played like a man tonight."