Knights Hold On For Sixth Win
TABOR - Fremont-Mills got a homecoming scare from visiting Stanton Friday night, but held on for a 30-22 Eight-man, District 8 victory. The Knights improved to 6-0 with the win, while the Vikings fell to 4-2.
”I didn’t expect us to play as poorly on the offensive side,” Fremont-Mills head coach Jeremy Christiansen said. “They (Stanton) did a good job of keeping the ball out of our hands. Defensively, we held them in check until we had some breakdowns in coverage in the second half.”
Stanton scored the first touchdown of the game early in the second quarter on a nine-yard scamper by quarterback Connor Hultman, culminating a 55-yard scoring drive.
With the Knight offense struggling to find its rhythm in the first two quarters of the contest, Stanton was hoping to add to its lead before halftime, but a “Pick-6” interception return of 10 yards by Adam Todd put Fremont-Mills on the scoreboard and quickly turned momentum the Knights’ way.
Trailing 8-6, Fremont-Mills got the ball back late in the second half and promptly marched 43 yards to claim the lead seconds before halftime. The Knights found paydirt on a 32-yard pass from quarterback Sam Phillips to Jaeger Powers.
The Knights increased their lead to 18-8 in the third quarter on a four-yard run by Hunter Rasmussen.
The Vikings refused to surrender and quickly put together a touchdown drive of their own, scoring on a three-yard toss from Hultman to Alex Becthold.
Fremont-Mills scored a pair of touchdowns early in the fourth quarter on a nine-yard pass from Phillips to Carter Jennings and a 10-yard run by Phillips. The Knights appeared to be in control of the game until Hultman hooked up with Brady Johnson on a 23-yard touchdown pass. Hultman converted the two-point conversion to trim the Fremont-Mills’ lead to 30-22 with two minutes left on the clock.
The Vikings then attempted an onside kick and successfully retained possession when a Fremont-Mills player dove forward and touched the ball, even though it had not traveled the necessary 10 yards. The Vikings recovered the kick and had an opportunity to send the game into overtime with a touchdown and two-point conversion, but Todd intercepted his second pass of the game on the Knights’ 1 yard line in the final minute of the game to preserve the win.
“Those were two of the biggest plays of the year for us,” Christiansen said of Todd’s two interceptions on the night.
Phillips was Fremont-Mills’ statistical leader in several categories, completing nine of 22 pass attempts for 143 yards, rushing for 139 yards and recording a team-leading seven tackles. Jennings had six tackles for the Knights.
For Stanton, Hultman completed 10 of 17 passes for 137 yards, while Becthold tallied 83 yards rushing on 19 carries.
With a district showdown against undefeated Lenox looming this week, Christiansen said the Knights must find a way to get out of the offensive “funk” that’s slowed the team in its last two games against Stanton and East Mills.
“We’ve got to get it figured out,” Christiansen said. “It’s going to be a tough ballgame.”