FREDERICKTOWN — The Freddies got off the canvas last week and veteran coach Will Hartley knows another heavyweight fight awaits.
Fredericktown rebounded from a loss to Danville in the Knox Morrow Athletic Conference opener with a 43-22 win over Mount Gilead. The Freddies trailed 22-21 in the third quarter before scoring the game’s final 22 points.
Fredericktown welcomes Northmor to town Friday for the final game of what Hartley knew would be a grueling three-game stretch to open KMAC play.
“I think this is the toughest three games we have — with Danville, and then this upstart Mount Gilead team, and then a really solid Northmor team,” Hartley said after the KMAC-opening 28-7 loss at Danville. “So we have no time to feel sorry for ourselves.”
Friday’s showdown is one of two intriguing KMAC games involving Knox County schools:
Northmor (4-1, 1-1) at Fredericktown (3-2, 1-1): The Golden Knights couldn’t get anything going offensively in last week’s 32-7 loss to Danville. Northmor was limited to negative-four yards rushing on 22 attempts. Quarterback A.J. Bower completed 21-of-35 passes for 263 yards and a touchdown. Bo Landin caught five passes for 150 yards, including a 68-yard touchdown midway through the fourth quarter. Hunter Fulk had six catches for 50 yards, while Caleb Schnuerer had five grabs for 45 yards. Defensively, Charles Naylor leads the Knox Morrow Athletic Conference with six sacks.
The Freddies pulled away from Mount Gilead in the second half of last week’s 43-22 win. Fredericktown trailed 22-21 in the third quarter before scoring 22 unanswered points bridging the third and fourth quarters. Running back Teegan Ruhl is the KMAC’s leading rusher with 865 yards and 10 touchdowns on 104 carries. Kaid Carpenter leads the team with 10 catches for 105 yards and a touchdown. Quarterback Ben Mast has completed 27-of-61 passes for 263 yards and two touchdowns. Defensively, Mason Hoeflich ranks third in the KMAC with 48 tackles.
New Philadelphia (2-3, 1-2) at Mount Vernon (1-4, 0-2): The Quakers gave themselves a chance to upset Mansfield Senior last week, but came up short in a 21-10 loss. New Philadelphia had a pass intercepted near the Senior High goal line midway through the fourth quarter, then gave up a 97-yard touchdown pass. Quarterback Keaton Fausel completed 10-of-19 passes for 141 yards and rushed for 45 yards and a touchdown on 15 carries. Trevor Bean caught four passes for 71 yards and rushed for 21 yards. The Quakers managed just 204 yards of total offense and turned the ball over three times against Mansfield Senior’s stout defense.
The Yellow Jackets were victimized by big plays in their 53-7 loss at Ashland. The Arrows returned two interceptions for touchdowns and almost had a third pick-six. Meanwhile, Ashland had four scoring plays of 20 or more yards. Jonny Askew had another strong night for Mount Vernon, catching six passes for 146 yards and rushing for 30 yards on 11 carries.
Loudonville (2-3, 0-2) at Danville (4-1, 2-0): Loudonville quarterback Matt Sprang is the top passer in the Knox Morrow Athletic Conference, completing 64-of-120 attempts for 914 yards and seven touchdowns. Sprang threw a pair of touchdown passes in last week’s 28-21 loss to Centerburg, a game in which the Redbirds led 14-0 at the half and 21-14 with less than five minutes remaining in the fourth quarter. Sprang’s favorite targets are Zach Frankford and Micah Simpson. Frankford has 21 catches for 314 yards and a touchdown, while Simpson has 13 grabs for 156 yards and a score. Defensively, Baylor Weiser leads the way with 49 tackles, while Aidan Wolford tops the team with two interceptions and four sacks to go along with 47 tackles.
The Blue Devils dominated the fourth quarter in last week’s 32-7 win at Northmor, outscoring the Golden Knights 20-7 in the final period. Ryan Lucas had touchdown runs of 11 and 24 yards in the fourth quarter, while quarterback Walker Weckesser added a 14-yard TD run early in the period. Weckesser completed 12-of-18 passes for 170 yards and a touchdown in the win over the Golden Knights, while Lucas rushed for 96 yards on 12 attempts. Max Payne added 68 yards and a touchdown on 12 carries. Aidan Burke had a 40-yard touchdown reception among his three catches and Kaiden Colopy had four catches for 52 yards.
