FREDERICKTOWN — Once upon a time football coach Scott Spitler led his Lucas Cubs to a Division VII state championship game played at the Pro Football Hall of Fame in Canton.
On Friday night, coaching in a different time and at a different place, Spitler displayed the kind of bravado that led many men to the hallowed ground in Canton.
This time, in what might be the gutsiest call of the season, Fredericktown’s football boss earned his salary and then some.
With the season hanging in the balance, and the eighth-seeded Freddies clinging to a razor-thin 20-16 lead over visiting Newark Catholic in a Division VI, Region 23 playoff game, Spitler stepped to the fore.
Fredericktown had the ball in its own end of the field facing a fourth-and-two at its own 44 with 1:57 showing. Rather than play field-position, Spitler chose to go for the first down.
Parker Saunders got the call and powered over the right side to move the chains and complete the victory that sends the Freddies to the second round of the postseason.
“I just felt like it was not a situation where we were not getting stopped for less than three or four yards and we did not want to give the ball back to them,” the coach explained.
The gambit worked and the Freddies maintained possession before deploying into victory formation.
“You have to believe in your kids,” Spitler said. “We spent a lot of time doing what we do.”
Fredericktown quarterback Jonny Ashcraft opened the scoring with a 36-yard scamper at the 4:26 mark of the first quarter.
But Newark Catholic’s Jaxon Holman returned the ensuing kickoff for a touchdown, and the PAT gave the Green Wave a 7-6 first-quarter lead.
It got worse before it would get better for Fredericktown.
Newark Catholic’s Hal Gillespie booted a 28-yard field goal and Alex Nagel’s 43-yard touchdown catch made it 16-6 with 3:42 left in the half.
(Photos by Dan Werner)
The Freddies stemmed the tide when Ashcraft hit Laken Hunter for a 26-yard TD pass to slice the gap to 16-13 at intermission.
Ashcraft authored a bolt of lightning to start the second half, too. The slippery quarterback shook loose to go all the way on an 80-yard counter to give Fredericktown the lead for good at 20-16.
Neither team scored again, but both threatened in the red zone before being turned away. For instance, Ashcraft ripped off a 69-yard dash in the second half, but the Freddies couldn’t capitalize.
Still, the defense made the lead an insurmountable obstacle.
“I thought we played well. One of their scores was on special teams, so we gave up, what, eight points?” Spitler said.
Fredericktown improved to 9-2 with the victory. The Knox-Morrow Athletic Conference runners-up will travel three hours next week to meet undefeated and top-seeded Hannibal River (10-0).
“We are not afraid of hard work,” Spitler said. “We are a blue-collar-team. That starts at home and in the community.
“We just roll our sleeves up and get to work.”
The ninth-seeded Green Wave finished the season at 7-4 overall.
(Photos by Diane Bemiller)
