Moews helps Barrington turn it around at Fremd
Barrington's Logan Moews is a one-touch guy.
Moews broke off a 77-yard touchdown on the first play from scrimmage in the second half to turn the tide as Barrington rallied for a 27-12 victory over Fremd in a Mid-Suburban West opener in Palatine.
“I told our guys at halftime that we had to relax,” Barrington coach Joe Sanchez said. “We had to do our job and believe in what we are doing — and the kids did that.”
Moews, who finished with 202 yards on 23 carries and 2 touchdowns, erased a 6-0 deficit for the Broncos (5-0, 1-0) and gave them the momentum they needed.
“We needed that shift,” Moews said. “We believed in ourselves at halftime. We said we were just going to get that next play. And we got the big play coming out of the half.”
Moews took a handoff around the right side and got blocks from Nick Bart, John Steffan and Mark Bach that sprung him around the corner and a huge block by Josh Babicz downfield. Matt Infante's conversion kick gave Barrington the lead for good.
Barrington needed Moews' run after Fremd (3-2, 0-1) successfully played keepaway with Barrington in the first half.
Fremd controlled the ball, running 33 plays to Barrington's 20 in the first half and held the ball for 14:09 to the Broncos' 9:51. Fremd also turned away the Broncos in the red zone on both of their drives on interceptions by Jaden Jackson and Jake Haas.
Despite controlling the ball, Fremd only managed a pair of field goals by Luke Schoffstall. The first came from 35 yards out and, on the last play of the second quarter from 48 yards out, one that hit the crossbar and bounced over.
“Our defense did a real good job of keeping them out of the end zone,” Sanchez said. “If they score a touchdown on either one of those, it is a different feel for the game.”
Moews' touchdown run gave the Broncos new life. Barrington, which rushed for just 81 yards at halftime, was able to finish with 333 yards on the ground and 371 yards of offense.
“It just didn't matter that much to us,” said Barrington quarterback Ray Niro, who finished with 108 yards on 21 carries. “The team does so well coming back. Fremd's defensive line was great off the ball and faster than we had seen all year. Logan's run was huge for us.”
Fremd came back to move the ball to the Barrington 25. But on third- and fourth-down plays, Barrington defensive back Alec Andreas knocked down passes that could have easily tuned into Fremd touchdowns to preserve the 7-6 lead,
With Fremd now concentrating on stopping Moews, it was Niro's turn to get things going for the Broncos. He capped a 15-play, 80-yard drive with a 2-yard run to put Barrington up 14-6 with 2:34 left in the third quarter.
Fremd, which had been running the ball, turned to the air to get back into the game.
On the first play from scrimmage, Tom Josten connected with Mitch Kazmer on a 67-yard touchdown pass as the Vikings closed to 14-12. On the conversion, the same pair connected on a bubble screen, but Kazmer was tackled short of the goal line.
Barrington then put together a 16-play, 83-yard drive that consumed nearly six minutes off the clock. Moews closed out the drive that had the Broncos convert two third down plays and a fourth-down play, with a 3-yard run to make it 21-12 with 4:27 to play.
Fremd tried to come back in the closing minute with Josten (15-of-29, 159 yards) moving the Vikings to the Barrington 6. The Broncos were able to turn Fremd away when Andrea stepped in front of a receiver and picked off a pass and then raced 102 yards for a touchdown on the game's final play.
“It was awesome,” Andrea said. “I didn't have a good first half. I was losing my technique. But my coach got on me and I was able to make some plays.”
Fremd coach Lou Sponsel said that his team's inability to capitalize in key situations hurt his team.
“We left too many points out there on the field,” Sponsel said. “We just didn't take advantage of certain situations. We got a little sloppy at times and that hurt us.”
Sanchez was pleased by the way his team responded to being behind for the first time this season.
“We haven't been behind in game like this, Sanchez said. “And that was good for us. Not that you ever want to be behind. But in terms of showing ourselves that we can do it. And that is the kind of games you need if you are going to do what you want to do at the end of October.”