Fredericktown 47,Johnstown 22
JOHNSTOWN — Johnstown dominated the first half of play on Friday to build a lead against first-place Fredericktown, but the Freddies bided their time and scored three touchdowns in the fourth quarter to win, 47-22.
The Johnnies (2-4, 1-2) had 253 yards on the ground and 18 first downs, mostly in the first half when they dominated possession. Johnstown made 37 of its 52 rushing attempts in the first half, while Fredericktown (6-0, 3-0) ran only 13 times. It wasn’t all rosy for the Johnnies, who could have held a bigger lead if not for scoring three field goals instead of touchdowns.
The Freddies took the opening kickoff past midfield, and on their first play Thomas Hinkle ran 48 yards for a touchdown with 11:41 to play to put Fredericktown up, 7-0. Johnstown had a short drive end in Brad Couts’ 1-yard touchdown plunge at the 10:01 mark of the period for a 7-6 deficit. The Freddies scored on a 51-yard pass from Hinkle to Tony Lybarger with 5:51 to play in the period to lead 13-6, but were kept off the field by the Johnnies run-oriented offense most of the rest of the half. Patrick Benton made it 13-9 with a 43-yard field goal with 1:18 left in the quarter.
Fredericktown broke through for Hinkle’s 11-yard TD run with 5:58 left in the first half for a 19-9 lead. Riley Cannon sneaked in from 1-yard out for the Johnnies with 59 seconds to play, and an interception gave Benton another field goal opportunity, which he hit from 29 yards to tie the game.
Johnstown had a long drive to begin the second half, which ended in a 37-yard field goal from Benton for a 22-19 lead. From then on, however, Fredericktown’s offense dominated, scoring four times in the final 13 minutes. Hinkle had a 5-yard TD run with 57 seconds to play in the third quarter, then added a 1-yard run with 6:22 to give the Freddies a 33-22 lead. Hinkle threw a 6-yard touchdown pass to Tyler Hathaway at the 4:40 mark, and Matt Smith finished up with a 4-yard TD run with 3:47 to play.
Hinkle ran 20 times for 158 yards and four touchdowns, and completed 6-of-11 passes for 116 yards and two touchdowns. Lybarger caught four passes for 95 yards. Couts carried most of the load for the Johnnies with 34 carries for 145 yards. Cannon completed 8-of-17 passes for 80 yards, and Taylor Atwood had four catches for 49 yards.
