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Fremd’s ‘D’ ends Conant’s perfect start

It was fourth-and-3 from Fremd’s 9-yard line.

In a similar situation on its previous drive, host Conant had converted a fourth-and-6 for a touchdown to put the score at 24-20 in favor of Fremd in Friday’s Mid-Suburban League West football game.

This time the host Cougars again looked to the end zone, but a diving deflection by Fremd safety Keith Browning preserved the lead, and gave Fremd the ball. Two first downs later the Vikings were able to finish off the clock and the Cougars for a 24-20 victory. It’s Conant’s first loss of the season.

“It was nice for the secondary to make a big play because they had gotten beat deep a couple of times earlier tonight,” proud Fremd coach Mike Donatucci said.

On the deciding deflection, Browning was hit in the legs by a diving teammate and upended. Both players stayed down for a while before walking off under their own power. After the game Browning said he was sore, but it was worth it.

“I was reading the quarterback, and I saw him looking to the right, but he released the ball,” Browning said. “I just broke up on it, and swatted it down.”

Conant (4-1, 0-1) tested the Fremd secondary all night, with quarterback Matt Cullen (20-for-33, 223 yards, 3 TDs) finding receivers Tom Zidek (5 catches, 130 yards, 2 TDs) and Tim Manczko (9 catches, 60 yards) often.

But it was the Vikings (3-2, 1-0) who came up with the game’s biggest play.

“There were so many things you can point to that would have changed the game,” Conant coach Bill Modelski said. “We’re disappointed, and we’re not really happy with how we played. I give them credit. They kind of took it to us a little bit, and we didn’t respond the right way right away. I think our response got better as the game went on, and we fought back hard. It looked like we were going to pull it out there, but we didn’t.”

Fremd’s offense turned in a gritty performance behind the running of tailback A.J. McGhee and the blocking of offensive linemen Brad Ruehrdanz, Ben Dworkin, James Burke, Ray Tarallo, and Ken Raap.

McGhee carried the ball 35 times for 145 yards and a touchdown. In a methodical approach, McGhee had just 3 runs of 10 yards or more, and 3 runs of negative yardage.

“I was just doing what’s best for the team, and just trying to get the win,” McGhee, who gave a big credit to his offensive line, said. “I just had to keep getting the yards that I could get. Three or four is good. That’s what the coaches said. Just keep pounding it.”

Sophomore quarterback Sam Beutler was 10-for-14 for 108 yards with a touchdown and 2 interceptions. Matt Iosla had 5 catches for 59 yards, and Josh Jyawook had 4 grabs for 39 yards and a touchdown.