HANNIBAL — The Fredericktown Freddies traveled three hours to Hannibal, Ohio on Friday night and ran into a buzz saw.
Top-seeded River scored 22 points in the first quarter to set the tone in a 48-34 decision in the Division VI, Region 23 encounter.
The Pilots, now 11-0, won the coin toss elected to receive and went to work. It took the home team less than a minute to hit paydirt the first time. In their first two possessions, the Pilots reeled off just six plays but accounted for two touchdowns.
By the end of the first period, River had stunned the visitors taking a 22-0 lead into the second quarter.
The Freddies showed signs of life, briefly, when quarterback Johnny Ashcraft used his legs on back-to-back keepers resulting in a 2-yard TD with just under two minutes gone from stanza number two.
With 2:25 remaining in the first half, the Fredericktown faithful held its collective breath as Ashcraft was helped from the field.
Brock Bryant took over as the signal caller and two plays later the Freddies were in the end zone again, cutting the margin to 28-14 at halftime.
(Photos by Dan Werner)
Coming out of the intermission, the visitors marched down the field and the score once more for a manageable 28-21 deficit. That was as close as the Freddies would get.
“At the beginning of this season, no one outside of our circle gave us much of a chance and look at where we are,” Fredericktown coach Scott Spitler said. “Unfortunately, if you do not win the state your season ends with a loss.”
Looking across the faces of his team, the mentor issued a challenge.
“Seniors, you have been leaders and role models and have paid it back,” Spitler said. “Underclassmen, you have learned from the upperclassmen and you can pay it forward.”
Spitler noted his squad enjoyed a solid season, finishing 9-3 overall and 6-1 with a runner-up spot in the Knox Morrow Athletic Conferene.
“I’m very proud of this team,” Spitler said. “We had a rough start in our first game at Highland but we did not panic, worked hard and here we are.”
Looking to the future, according to the KMAC website, the Freddies have 34 underclassmen while losing seven to graduation.
Knox Pages would like to thank A+ Auto Brokers for providing transportation for our correspondent