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Conant dresses for success against Fremd

Conant came up with a new wrinkle and creased Fremd 26-17 Friday before 4,500 in Hoffman Estates.

The Cougars closed down their spread offense a bit by using a pair of tight ends instead of wide receivers.

And with quarterback Kyle Bradley and Jake Jakubosky operating out of the backfield in the shotgun, the Cougars rolled up 292 yards on the ground and 469 yards of total offense.

Conant coach Bill Modelski credited offensive line coach Steve Polley with coming up with the plan.

"We thought it could be big," Modelski said. "It was a little bit different look for them and it worked very well for us."

Conant, which had not used a tight end all season, added Ross Cayley and Adam Shymanik to an offensive line of Nathan Kawalek, Tom Goeshe, Austin Hellios, Tyler Tuttle and Tyler Hickerson.

"Our offensive line did an awesome job," said Bradley, who rushed for 121 yards on 19 carries. "This is one of the best defensive lines in the conference. Our guys just out in the work in practice and it showed tonight."

Jakubosky, who rushed for a career-best 175 yards on 32 carries, got off to slow start. But as the offensive line became more comfortable with its reads, Jakubosky began to gash the Fremd defense.

"We made some adjustments blocking this way and that way," Jakubosky said. "I read my holes and just burst through them."

The win kept Conant (5-0, 1-0) unbeaten, and the Cougars will square off with the only other MSL unbeaten team when they play at Barrington next Saturday.

"We will take it," Modelski said. "We fought hard and it was good."

Fremd (4-1, 0-1) got off to strong start. After a defensive stop, the Vikings went 45 yards in just 3 plays with Kenny Lyke busting off a 21-yard run to make it 7-0.

Conant came right back on its next possession and began to set the tone. The Cougars put together an impressive 14-play, 80-yard scoring March. Bradley called the drive with a 15-yard run on a quarterback draw to even the game at 7.

The Cougars put then put together a pair of scoring drives. But as the drives got near the the goal line, the Fremd defense stiffened. Thomas Urbanski came on in each occasion to covert field goals from 24 and 21 yards to give the Cougars a 13-7 lead at the half.

Fremd began to reassert itself thanks to the running of Charlie Kaye. The senior, who finished with 115 yards on 15 carries, moved the Vikings ahead on 5-yard run with 6:03 left in the third quarter.

But the lead was short-lived. Bradley connected with Palmer Graham on a 44-yard pass that help set up Urbanski on a 32-yard field goal with 3:32 left in the third quarter to put Conant up 16-14.

Urbanski added his fourth field goal of the game, this one from 25 yards, as Conant increased its lead to 19-14 with 10:06 to play.

"I just did what my coaches said for me to do out there," Urbanski said. "I wasn't nervous at all. I just focused and kicked."

Fremd appeared to take the lead midway through the final period when quarterback Tommy Josten appeared to have scored on a long run. But the play was negated by an illegal block, and the Vikings had to settle for a J.T. Kolderup 24-yard field goal to cut the lead to to 19-17 with 7:26 to play.

Bradley and Conant then put the game away. Bradley, who was 9-of-20 for 177 yards, first hooked up with Graham on a 48-yard gain. Bradley then connected with Carl Hahn on a 9-yard touchdown pass with 3:51 left.

"Fundamentally, we were very poor," Fremd coach Lou Sponsel said. "We didn't make plays and they did. We had breakdowns in all three phases of the game. But we will get it fixed this week."

Images: Conant over Fremd, 26-17 in football

  Fremd's Kenny Lyke gets free on a first-quarter touchdown run against Conant on Friday. Mark Welsh/mwelsh@dailyherald.com
  Conant's Brandon Vinson eyes the ball after he tipped it on a pass play. It ended up as an interception by Fremd's Jake Haas on Friday at Conant. Mark Welsh/mwelsh@dailyherald.com
  Conant's Tim Cullen tries to corral a pass in the end zone against Fremd on Friday. Mark Welsh/mwelsh@dailyherald.com
  Fremd quarterback Tom Josten has his pass knocked down by a Conant defender on Friday. Mark Welsh/mwelsh@dailyherald.com
  Conant's Kyle Bradley runs for a first-quarter touchdown against Fremd on Friday. Mark Welsh/mwelsh@dailyherald.com
  Fremd's Kenneth Lyke absorbs a shot from a Conant defender as he picks up yardage at Conant on Friday. Mark Welsh/mwelsh@dailyherald.com
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