Mount Vernon News

FREDERICKTOWN — After three weeks of nonleague play, the Fredericktown Freddies are ready to take on the Mid-Buckeye Conference. The Freddies gave a thorough thrashing to visiting Colonel Crawford, 38-7, Friday night, putting on a show for those who doubted the team’s ability.

“I thought our defense played very well,” said Fredericktown head coach Luke Beal. “Colonel Crawford has really developed offensively in the last year, and it was good to see us rise to the occassion.”

Thanks to C.J. Ruhl, Fredericktown dominated the Eagles on both sides of the ball in the first half of play. The Freddies’ 5’11” junior scored five touchdowns and racked up 131 offensive yards.

“I just wanted to help my team out, and help us win the game,” said Ruhl. “The offensive line played well, and we just hit some holes and made things happen.”

Although Ruhl and his teammates played an excellent game, the Eagles’ woes weren’t all because of Fredericktown’s offense. Colonel Crawford could only get one first down in the first half, and had to punt the ball away five times before the halftime break. In addition, the Eagles lost a fumble in the middle of the second quarter.

“Fredericktown is a good football team, and we knew that coming in,” said Colonel Crawford head coach Ryan Taglovic. “They are one of the best football teams we will play. We didn’t always execute, but we played hard.”

While the Eagles were struggling for yardage, the Freddies were picking up first downs with ease. Only 30 seconds after Fredericktown received the opening kickoff, quarterback Thomas Hinkle connected with Tony Lybarger for a 27-yard pass. The opening drive ended with a Fredericktown punt, but the Freddies were getting warmed up.

After the Eagles went four and out, Fredericktown went back to work. The Freddies picked up three first downs in a row: A six-yard rush from Ruhl, a 10-yard pass from Hinkle to Nick Testa and an 11-yard rush from Ruhl. The drive ended with a 10-yard touchdown rush from Ruhl that put Fredericktown on the board, 6-0. After a successful extra-point kick from Gary Gregg, the Freddies had a 7-0 lead.

“Ruhl was really running the ball well for us tonight,” said Beal. “He is a guy that we always want to get the ball to. We expect him to make plays for us, and he has been playing really well.”

Four minutes later, Ruhl was running again. After a 25-yard rush by Lybarger, Ruhl trotted two yards into the end zone to put the Freddies up by two touchdowns.

Fredericktown took its time with touchdown No. 3. After recovering a Colonel Crawford fumble, the Freddies burned two minutes off the clock with somewhat shorter rushes before handing the ball to their human locomotive one more time. Ruhl broke through the middle for a 14-yard touchdown drive with 4:25 remaining in the first half, to put Fredericktown on top, 20-0.

Just before the end of the first half, the Eagles rushed for their first first down of the night. The drive didn’t last long, though, and the Freddies were punted the ball about mid-field with under a minute to play in the half. A 23-yard pass from Hinkle to Andrew Wildermuth put Fredericktown on the edge of the red zone. Hinkle launched another pass, this time to Gregg, which was good for 19 yards. After a 15-yard penalty on the next play, Fredericktown’s chances of getting another touchdown before halftime looked slim.

The Freddies knew what to do, though: Get the ball to Ruhl. Hinkle sent a 19-yard pass to Ruhl, who was in the end zone, and the Freddies went ahead by another touchdown.

Because Gregg’s previous extra-point attempt was blocked, the Freddies tried for a two-point conversion. It didn’t work, and Fredericktown went into halftime with a 26-0 lead.

“They were very physical,” said Taglovic of the Freddies. “Their offensive and defensive lines are just very physical. They have weapons in the backfield, but from what we have seen, they are very tough up front.”

The halftime break didn’t help the Eagles. On their first offensive play of the second half, they fumbled. The Freddies recovered, and two minutes later handed off to Ruhl. After a 12-yard rush, Ruhl had recorded yet another touchdown, and put Fredericktown up, 32-0.

The next touchdown came a little differently for Fredericktown. With 22 seconds left in the third quarter, Colonel Crawford pitched the ball to its running back. But before the ball could reach the running back, Wildermuth shot through the line from out of nowhere to catch the quarterback’s pitch. Since the pitch was a lateral, Wildermuth’s pick-off was considered a fumble, rather than an interception. No matter what it was called on the receiving end, 45 yards later it was called a touchdown.

Colonel Crawford didn’t score until about six minutes were left in the game. Using mostly junior varsity players, who were playing against a jayvee Fredericktown line, the Eagles picked up a handful of yards at a time. After a four-minute drive, the Eagles put their touchdown on the board.

The Freddies combined for a total of 279 offensive yards, while Colonel Crawford could only tally 134 yards offensively. Fredericktown fumbled four times, losing two, while the Eagles lost two of their three fumbles.

“We were happy with the win, but we weren’t completely satisfied with the way we executed at times,” said Beal. “We made some mistakes and dropped some passes. There are still some things we need to work on.”

Fredericktown will be back in action next week in a road game against Northridge.

“We’ve done what we wanted to do in our nonconference schedule,” said Beal. “Now it is like starting a whole new season. The MBC is going to be physical, so we will have to come out next week ready to play.”

The game will start at 7:30 in the evening.