Big plays buoy Barrington at Fremd
Barrington didn't waste much time on offense in the final Mid-Suburban West regular-season football game at Fremd on Friday.
The Broncos (8-1, 4-1) put their only loss of the season in the rear-view mirror by beating the host Vikings 33-28, the first time they have left Hale Hildebrandt field with a victory since 2004. In the process, they showed how efficient their offense can be.
They also likely secured home field for the first round of next week's 8A playoffs when the pairings are announced Saturday night.
"Fremd and Palatine are two playoff teams," said Barrington coach Joe Sanchez. "They helped get us ready for next week. The win gives us a chance for a home game."
Barrington scored 5 touchdowns, and no drive lasted more than 7 plays. Big plays were instrumental in each possession, and quarterback Johnny Davidson was the key to Barrington's success.
The junior quarterback scored on 14- and 20-yard runs for Barrington's first 2 touchdowns. He showed off his passing skills (17-of-20 for 288 yards) by connecting with Mitch Pfeiffer on 80- and 50-yard scoring passes and a 5-yard pass to Dumaso Mkwananzi. That pass wiped out Fremd's only lead of the game, 21-20.
"You can't give up the big plays," Fremd coach Lou Sponsel said. "We can't give up the home runs. We've got to learn and get better."
Pfeiffer was able to get behind the Fremd secondary on both TD catches and outran the safety both times after the catch.
"It was 1-on-1 coverage, and I got some separation," Pfeiffer said. "Johnny threw a perfect ball."
"Mitch is one of our fastest receivers," Davidson said. "I throw it up there and hope he comes up with it."
The Vikings put the ball in the hands of 6-3, 232-pound fullback Pat McMahon, who responded by bulling over for touchdowns from 5, 1 and 6 yards.
Fremd (6-3, 3-2) quarterback Nick Bossong connected with Kyle Lewis on a 39-yard touchdown pass in the second quarter that tied the game at 14.
Until late in the game, neither team led by more than a touchdown.
Davidson scored on Barrington's first possession in 4 plays, his 14-yard run, and Fremd drove 63 yards in 8 plays to tie it on McMahon's first touchdown.
Davidson's 20-yard run capped a 69-yard 7-play drive with 2:17 left in the first quarter to give the Broncos a 14-7 lead. Bossong connected with Lewis to tie the game with 7:53 left in the first half, a 9-play, 80-yard drive.
After a Fremd 42-yard field goal attempt fell just short, Davidson connected with Pfeiffer for the 80-yard scoring strike.
Fremd took the second-half kickoff 70 yards in 13 plays to earn its only lead of the game 21-20 when McMahon bulled into the end zone from 1 yard out.
Davidson found Mkwananzi in the end zone to reclaim the lead and connected with Pfeiffer with 6:24 left in the game to build what appeared to be a comfortable 33-21 lead, but Fremd had other ideas.
Jawan Gained returned the kickoff from his 10 to Barrington's 6 yard line, and McMahon scored on the first play to cut the lead to 33-28.
Fremd had one last chance, but a fumble with 1:07 left was recovered by Jake Coon to seal the win.