Knights rumble into state semifinals
MALVERN - For the second straight season, the Fremont-Mills football team will be finishing its season in the UNIDome in Cedar Falls.
The Knights blew open a 14-14 tie in Friday’s Eight-man Quarterfinal with 28 points over the final 13 minutes of the first half to knock off East Mills and advance to Thursday’s semifinals.
Fremont-Mills will take on top ranked Armstrong-Ringsted (12-0) in the Eight-Man semifinals Thursday in the UNIDome in Cedar Falls. The two-time defending champion Mustangs ousted the Knights in last year’s semifinals 45-34.
In Friday’s quarterfinals, the Knights (11-0) overcame two early turnovers with a punishing ground game and a defense designed to pressure and harass Wolverine quarterback Luke Schafer.
“We were hoping for that. This was our style of game,” said Fremont-Mills coach Jeremy Christiansen of his team’s ability to wear down the Wolverines. “We had some mistakes early, didn’t capitalize on a few things, but that’s how that goes. We need to clean that up, but we felt like we did wear them down. Defensively, we finally got pressure on Luke (Schafer), he’s a great athlete, they all are. They have a hell of a team.”
It’s hard to argue with the Knights being a hell of team in their own right.
After trailing for just the second time all season at 7-6 with 5:34 to go in the first quarter, the Knights survived an East Mills onside kick on the ensuing kick off and went ahead 14-7 on an eight-play, 41 yard drive, capped by an A.J. Scarborough TD sprint.
The Wolverines responded with a long march of their own when Schafer found top target Daniel Duysen on a 14 yard dart to make the score 14-14.
And that’s when the Knights got to work.
Using a “wildcat” formation with Nate Meier taking the direct snap in the shotgun, the 235-pound senior raced 45 yards to pay dirt on the final play of the first quarter. The Knights added another touchdown run and 20-yard scoring toss by Scarborough and a 70-yard scamper by Meier in the second frame to go up 42-14 at the break.
Meier scored his fourth touchdown of the night and fullback Logan Wood added a 46-yarder around a pair of Wolverine punts to push the lead to 58-14 with 5:13 to go in the third quarter.
East Mills coach Kevin Schafer said it was a personnel move by the Knights that keyed their defensive effort. Meier, who played most of the season on the defensive line, moved to linebacker allowing Scarborough to cornerback and use his size to control the Wolverines receivers.
“We struggled with our passing game. Our routes weren’t sharp, our passing wasn’t real sharp. Our biggest plays were probably those quarterback draws in the second quarter.”
The Wolverines punted a season-high eight times in the game and Schafer, who had thrown for 3,095 yards and 55 touchdowns entering the game, finished with a season-low 130 yards passing on 7-of-30 passing and two scores.
“We covered fairly well,” Christiansen said. “There was one ball there deep along their sideline, we covered it as well as we could have, and he dropped it in there. That’s what happens when you have a good athlete like that.”
Meier came up short of the 500 yards and nine touchdowns rushing he had in his last match up with the Wolverines in the regular season-finale, but still managed a huge night with 348 yards on 27 carries.
The Knights finished the game with 491 total yards, 471 of it coming on the ground. Christiansen said the “wildcat” formation with Meier was something his team hadn’t used since last year’s state semifinal before using it briefly in last week’s 66-30 win over Stanton.
“It was one of those things where, during this time of year, we want to wear people down,” Christiansen said.
Schafer didn’t feel his team wore down as much as get beat by a superior opponent.
“I thought we tackled better in the first quarter than the last time we played them,” Schafer said. “We made them drive the ball and we had some opportunities on turnovers and didn’t come up with all of them. Early, we didn’t capitalize. We had a deep pass where we had a chance to score.
“When you play them, and they’re better than us, you have to take advantage every single time. I think they have a very strong chance of winning a state championship.”
Despite a pair of lopsided losses to the Knights, Schafer is still proud of his team.
“I told the boys I still think we probably deserve to be up there at the dome,” Schafer said. “We ran into the wrong team early and that’s just the way it is.”
All season long the Knights had dealt with the pressure of being the favorites to return to the UNIDome. And all season, Christiansen said, his team has handled the pressure of being a target in every game.
“I think we handled that pretty well. I think the best thing for us was last week and tonight to get down sort of like in last year’s semifinal when we got down and fought back but when we ran out of time. Hopefully we don’t dig ourselves that sort of hole again. Obviously we need to play our type of football game. The seniors, our leaders, have done a great job for us this year. And that all started last November in all reality.”
Christiansen smiled when asked if his team was hoping for a rematch with Armstrong-Ringsted in the semifinals.
“That would be correct,” the coach said. “Those guys up there do a great job and we want a shot at the best. And right now, until they’re stopped, they are.”
Scoring Summary
FM 20 22 16 00 - 58
EM 14 00 00 08 - 22
Game Summary
FM - Nate Meier, 40 run (conversion failed).
EM - Daniel Duysen, 54 pass from Luke Schafer (kick good).
FM - A.J. Scarborough, 5 run (two point conversion).
EM - Duysen, 14 pass from Schafer (kick good).
FM - Meier, 45 run (conversion failed).
FM - Scarborough 1 run (two point conversion).
FM - Meier, 70 run (conversion failed).
FM - Curtis Beem, 16 pass from Scarborough (two point conversion).
FM - Meier, 43 run (two point conversion).
FM - Logan Wood, 45 run (two point conversion).
EM - Nick Pittmon, 37 run (two point conversion).