FREDERICKTOWN – High school students typically feel all sorts of emotions during Homecoming Week.
For the Fredericktown Freddies, they stared at the scoreboard Friday night as they held a solid lead late in the fourth quarter.
And they were nervous.
Last season, Fredericktown held a touchdown lead over Loudonville at the same point in the game, but saw victory slip away. This year, the picture was eerily similar: The Freddies led by six with three minutes to go, and were staring at fourth-and-25 from the Loudonville 29.
Blake Sipes stayed cool. The senior quarterback scrambled right, then sent the ball in the air just as he was tackled from behind. Gavin Toombs caught the pass at the 12, avoided two tackles and slid into the endzone to give Fredericktown a 28-14 victory.
“Our motto all week was ‘Refuse to lose,’” Fredericktown coach Will Hartley said. “So we asked who was going to bear down, and who was going to refuse to lose.
“It was going to be up to us. And the kids battled through, good enough to win.”
Fredericktown’s final touchdown came after a big defensive stop at the Loudonville 29. The Redbirds had the ball third-and-1 but couldn’t convert on two plays.
The stop was crucial because Loudonville had scored on its previous possession, a 14-play drive that took up nearly six minutes and put the ‘Birds within striking distance.
Quarterback Matt Sprang scored from one yard out – his second touchdown of the game – to put Loudonville within six early in the fourth quarter.
The Redbirds (2-5, 1-3 KMAC) drove down the field with no timeouts on their final drive, keeping the Fredericktown fans on the edge of their seats. But senior Grant Hartley picked off Sprang’s pass at the 4 with 15 seconds to play.
“I thought they were running it. But they were calling [pass] from the sidelines,” Grant Hartley said. “So I saw that. That’s all coaching right there.”
Toombs’ game-clinching score was his second touchdown of the game. The first came at the end of Fredericktown’s first drive, a two-yard catch from Sipes.
Hartley scored on the Freddies’ next possession. Lined up one-on-one, Hartley ran a post pattern from the Fredericktown 36 and caught Sipes’ pass with a leap. Hartley’s speed carried him the rest of the way to a 14-0 lead at the end of the first quarter.
“I believe that, if you put me one-on-one, I have strong odds,” Hartley said. “As soon as I saw the ball – it was put in the air beautifully by [Sipes], I had to go up for it.”
Fredericktown (3-4, 2-2) looked to add to the lead late in the first half on a 47-yard pass, but the receiver fumbled and Loudonville recovered. The Redbirds then drove 86 yards on seven plays to make the score 14-7 at the break.
But the Freddies didn’t allow the change of momentum to bring them down. Fredericktown began the second half with a 15-yard drive featuring all runs. The drive took seven minutes off the clock and ended with a Sipes carry in the endzone and a 20-7 lead.
“Anytime you have a young group like this – it was always a fear,” Coach Hartley said. “But we were prepared. And we simplified it in the second half. Ran with our backs, and with our quarterback. And we got that really nice drive. That really settled the kids down.”
The win tentatively puts Fredericktown among the Top 16 in the region. But, with three weeks to play – including a game next week at East Knox – the Freddies know they have a long way to go.
“We don’t really think about that until later,” Grant Hartley admitted. “But it would be cool to get another game.”
So, what is the senior thinking about? Homecoming, of course.
“We can’t have too much fun, because we still have football,” he said, “but I’m going to get pretty rowdy on the dance floor.”
