Wildcat Offense Overwhelms Fremont-Mills’ Defense
Undefeated Glidden-Ralston unleashed its potent offensive attack Monday night en route to a 61-28 victory over visiting Fremont-Mills in the second round of the 8-man playoffs.
The Wildcats stormed to a 34-6 halftime lead with the aid of three long touchdown runs and were never threatened in the second half as they improved their record to 10-0 on the season. Fremont-Mills finishes the year with a 9-2 mark.
“We just gave up too many long runs and we definitely struggled to get our run game going,” Fremont-Mills Coach Jeremy Christiansen said. “They were everything we thought they would be.”
Tailback Christopher Brown was the offensive star of the night for Glidden-Ralston – scoring on runs of 58, 23 and 64 yards. The Wildcats also got long touchdown runs from Oliver Conner and Clayton Christian.
Penalties, particularly in the first half, proved costly for Fremont-Mills. The Knights were flagged for three false starts on their first offensive series of the game and a holding penalty nullified a touchdown pass from quarterback Mason Vanatta to Sam Phillips late in the first quarter.
The Knights’ lone touchdown of the first half came on a 15-yard pass from Vanatta to Parker Powers, who also scored on a 1-yard TD pass in the third quarter.
Sam Phillips teamed up with Carter Jennings on a 44-yard TD pass and Adam Todd hauled in a 14-yard scoring toss from Vanatta to round out the Knights’ scoring.
“Obviously, we had a great season with good senior leadership,” Christiansen said. “We did some things well and we have some things to improve on for next season. Hopefully, this makes us hungry.”
Fremont-Mills 42,
East Union 12
TABOR - Leading by just eight points late in the second quarter, Fremont-Mills put a touchdown on the scoreboard 34 seconds before halftime and then coasted to a 42-12 victory over East Union in the opening round of the 8-man state playoffs last Wednesday.
Fremont-Mills turned the football over on a fumble on its first play of the game, but rebounded with a defensive stand to keep the Eagles from taking an early lead.
Parker Powers provided the offensive power for the Knights early on, scoring the game’s first touchdown on an 8-yard run and then running back a punt 59 yards for a TD in the final minute of the period.
East Union trimmed the Fremont-Mills lead 14-6 late in the second quarter on a 12-yard touchdown pass from Sanden Cheers to Mason Gossman.
The Knights got the football back with less than two minutes remaining in the first half and moved the ball down the field behind the efficient passing arm of quarterback Mason Vanatta. With 34 seconds left in the half, Vanatta teamed up with Carter Jennings on a 16-yard scoring pass.
Fremont-Mills Coach Jeremy Christiansen said the scoring drive before halftime was a momentum changer.
“That drive was big, we had been struggling a bit to move the ball and it took us awhile to get our passing game going,” Christiansen said.
Powers set up the Knights’ next touchdown early in the third quarter, intercepting a Cheers pass and returning the ball to the Eagles 25 yard line. Fremont-Mills cashed in on the turnover on a 1-yard pass from Vanatta to Nathen Hardisty.
Running back Sam Phillips joined the Knights’ scoring parade later in the third quarter on a 55-yard burst.
On East Union’s ensuing possession, Phillips picked off a Cheers’ aerial and ran it back to the Eagles’ 2 yard line. Powers put the ball in the end zone from there as the Knights’ increased their lead to 42-6.
East Union scored the final points of the game midway through the fourth quarter on a 48-yard pass from Cheers to Gossman.
Phillips finished the night with 170 rushing yards on 17 carries. Vanatta completed 10-of-19 passes for 100 yards. Jennings was his top target, hauling in four pass receptions for 59 yards.
Phillips was also the Knights’ leader on defense, recording 12 tackles and two interceptions. Hardisty tallied 11 tackles and Powers grabbed two interceptions.
Christiansen praised the play of his defense, which limited Eagles running back Mike Ward to 31 yards. Ward had rushed for nearly 1,700 yards entering the game against the Knights.
“I thought our defense stepped up and played extremely well,” Christiansen said.