Fremont-Mills one win from state title

With 1:49 remaining in the Eight-Man semifinals, Fremont-Mills was in unfamiliar territory.

The Knights, who had not trailed in a game entering the playoffs, found themselves down 27-22.

They needed just 40 seconds to change that.

A 39-yard reception by Parker Powers set up a Mackenzy Lang 16 yard touchdown run to lift the Knights 30-27 over Marcus-Meriden-Cleghorn in the Eight Man semifinals at the UNI Dome in Cedar Falls Thursday.
After getting down 27-14 at the half, the Knights shut out the Eagles in the second half and twice held on fourth down inside their own 10 yard line in the half.

“We made a few adjustments at halftime but we did not play good in the first half,” said Fremont-Mills coach Jeremy Christiansen. “I think everyone in the building could see that. I don’t know if it was because we returned the opening kickoff and we let down or what. MMC was more physical than us. They were faster than us the first half. We gutted one out. We said ‘emotions make plays’ and at some point that took over. We had to stop and score, stop and score. Sometimes it’s good to be lucky.”

Thursday, the Knights (13-0) will face Newell-Fonda (10-3), who defeated H-L-V 40-18 in the other semifinal. F-M will back in the UNI Dome for a shot at their second state title in four years.

In the first half against MMC, Powers’ 74-yard game-opening kick off return was one of the few and far between offensive highlights for the Knight offense.

After the kick return, the Eagles responded with a 10 play, 65-yard drive capped by a Jacob Spieler to Derek Erdman screen pass.

The Eagles forced a Knight three-and-out on their first offensive series and then took the ball at their own 37 and marched down to take a 12-6 lead on Spieler’s second TD toss, this time to Ben Specht.

The Knights couldn’t respond on their next possession, once again going three-and-out. After a quarter, Fremont-Mills had gained minus nine-yards.

Spieler engineered his third scoring drive in as many chances when the Eagles capped an eight play, 48-yard drive with an Erdman TD run from eight yards out.

With 8:54 to go in the half, the Knights trailed 20-6.

Fremont-Mills would finally get on the positive side of the net yards and take back some of the momentum on the ensuing series when Jason Rusten hooked up with Sam Phillips on a crossing route for a 47-yard touchdown. The Knights would convert the two-point conversion to trim the lead to 20-14 with 8:40 to go in the half.

The teams traded punts on their next possessions before the Eagles’ offense was able to respond. With a heavy dose of running by Erdman, MMC moved the ball down to the Knight 2-yard line where Spieler called his own number on a quarterback sneak to make the score 27-14 going into halftime.

After two quarters, the Knights were out-gained 255 to 35 and had one first down to the Eagles’ 14.

The second half would tell a different story.

After forcing an Eagle punt on their opening possession of the half, the Knights, facing a fourth-and-7 at their own 33, faked a punt and Lang found Powers for 23 yards and a first down. Powers came up a bit again on the very next play when he snatched a Rusten pass for a 34 yard touchdown. With the two-point conversion, the Knights trimmed the lead to 27-22.

Two plays later the Knights scooped up an Eagle fumble and were back in business at the MMC 30. But FM couldn’t get their offensive clicking, and after a holding call, was forced to punt.

The Eagles seemed to be energized by the stop and responded by taking the ball from their own 15 down to the Knights nine in a physical 13-play drive. But the Fremont-Mills defense would stiffen. On a fourth-and-goal, Spieler scrambled under heavy pressure and was picked off by Brandon Meston at the 1-yard line.

But once again, the Knights would fail to capitalize and were forced to punt.

The teams traded punts on their next two possessions with the Eagles taking over with 5:20 on the clock and leading 27-22. MMC looked determined to run out the clock on the ground with nine straight running plays to set up a fourth and two at the Knights’ 4-yard line. Spieler would once again get the call and the 6-foot-4, 185 pound junior swept around the right side where he was met by a pair of Fremont-Mills defenders, who dropped the QB for a 2-yard loss.

The Knights took over at their own six with 1:49 remaining. Rusten promptly hit Sam Phillips for 14 yards before connecting with Powers for a 39-yard strike down to the Eagles’ 16. After an incompletion, Rusten pitched to Lang who swept around the right side for the game-winning touchdown. The two-point conversion gave the Knights a crucial 30-27 lead.

“If you weren’t looking at the scoreboard you’d have to say MMC was controlling that game, which they did the whole first half,” Christiansen said. “We stayed just close enough. The second half we made some adjustments obviously and they got us to where we needed to be but we weren’t able to break that one big play until late in the game. We talked about getting a stop and a score, a stop and a score.”

But the Eagles wouldn’t go quietly.

Spieler moved his team from their own 15 down to the Knights’ 30 yard line. But the Knight defense held on. A sack by Haydn Meier on fourth-and-11 ended the Eagles’ hopes.

“The defense won the game for us. They moved the ball that last drive but they got a stop when we needed it,” Christiansen said.

The Eagles were able to move the ball in the second half but the Knights’ defense tightened up, repelling 10 play and a 13 play drives that both stalled inside FM’s 10 yard line.

“They were able to move the ball on us to change our movement until the very last drive. Our defense got the break it needed. All you can do is ask for a chance at the end and we got it.”

Christiansen called Powers’ diving 39 yard grab to set up Lang’s game-winner the “play of the game,” for his team.

“We tried to hit that all game. I think we tried to hit at three other times and all of which were open or close. It was a heck of a catch.”

Rusten, the Knights quarterback, was skeptical the moment the ball left his hands.

“I thought I overthrew him,” Rusten said. “But Parker’s an athlete. You throw it and he’ll get it.”