Fremd Rolls On To Round 2

37

That's the total points allowed by the Fremd defense during its six-game win streak headed into the 8A playoffs on Friday night at home against Plainfield North.

37

That's still the number of points the Vikings D has let up after defeating the Tigers 19-0 to push its win streak to 7, the team's fourth shutout of the year.

"We have a ton of respect for that football team over there," said Vikings head coach Lou Sponsel. "They are a classy group of kids and great athletes … they are a fun team to compete against, and our kids love a challenge."

Fremd quarterback Ryan Saxe was having all types of fun on the gridiron.

After a scoreless first quarter where both teams couldn't muster much offensively, Saxe and the Vikings got things going late in the second quarter as the junior signal caller scored on a 2-yard TD run with 3:15 left in the half.

Fremd got the ball back with a little over a minute before intermission, and Saxe made the most of it by scoring on a dazzling 37-yard TD run with just 10.2 ticks left in the half for a 13-0 advantage.

"In that first quarter, it's the first 12 minutes of playoff football and everyone is a little jittery," said Sponsel. "But once we settled in, our kids got a good feel for the flow of the game."

The Vikings received the opening kickoff of the third quarter and wasted no time matriculating down the field as Saxe found Ryan Palmer for an 18-yard TD strike to put Fremd up 19-0 with 9:19 left in the stanza.

Jack Hipchen highlighted the fourth quarter with a sensational one-handed interception to thwart a Tigers drive with under six minutes in the contest to help preserve the shutout as the Vikings advanced to the second round.