Knights play homecoming spoilers in Essex
On paper, it was a game-opening drive netting 58 yards and a touchdown on seven straight running plays.
But for Fremont-Mills, it was a tone setting statement.
The Knights wanted to be the most physical team on the field and they proved that – on both sides of the ball – in a 56-8 victory over Stanton-Essex on homecoming in Essex in Eight-player, District 10 football Friday.
“We preach to our kids about being physical all the time,” said Fremont-Mills head coach Greg Ernster. “It’s a mindset. High school kids … some kids really want to be physical and some kids don’t. Some kids are really athletic but not super physical. We don’t always have the best athletes, but we like to think we have the most physical kids.”
The Knights (3-4), winners of three of their last four games after a 0-3 start, proved that against the Vikings (3-5).
After taking the early 7-0 lead, Fremont-Mills held on a fourth-and-seven at their own 33 to get the ball back on their ensuing possession. Six straight runs later, Wyatt Madison raced into the endzone for the second of his four touchdowns on the night.
Another defensive stand on the Vikings’ next possession set up a four-play, 51-yard drive capped on Madison’s first pass, an 18-yard TD toss to freshman Isaak Hughes to make the score 22-0 with just over 11 minutes to go in the half.
Touchdown runs by Paxton Campbell and another by Madison sandwiched around a Landon Morse pick-six, put the Knights ahead 42-0 at intermission.
The Knights scored TDs on all five of their first half offensive possessions and out-gained Stanton 237 to 68 at the half.
Stanton Coach Jeff Grebin said the Knights’ physicality wasn’t anything his team didn’t expect – they just didn’t match it.
“We’ve faced F-M before and we’ll face them again,” Grebin said. “We know what to expect. They’re going to be physical; they’re going to be fast; they’re going to be hardnosed. You know, they’re just going to give their best. This is something that we need to continue to strive towards being able to duplicate in our kids. We get it in glimpses, we might get it out of three guys in a play, but we need it from 8 guys every play. So, hats off to F-M, they did a great job tonight.
The Vikings’ offense never quite settled in against the aggressive Knight defense that consistently pressured quarterback Nolan Case and the stuffing the run game.
“Our coaches came up with a great game plan, and the kids executed it very well,” Ernster said. “Defensively, I thought we’ve improved throughout the year they’ve done a great job of that. It’s all in the kids. They played really well. We finally got a couple sacks and covered really well. The kids did a great job with one of the top receivers and quarterback in Eight-man.”
Case entered with over 1,400 yards passing and 21 touchdowns this season but was limited to 7-of-25 passing for 91 yards against the Knights. But the junior did score the Vikings’ lone touchdown, capping a six play, 65-yard drive with an 11-yard scamper in the fourth quarter.
Offensively, Grebin said his Vikings didn’t handle the Knights’ defensive pressure well and the offense suffered uncharacteristic mistakes.
“We’ve got to give our quarterback time,” Grebin said. “He’s got a great arm and he finds the receivers. And tonight we had receivers drop the ball that all season long have just been money, they get their hands on the ball and they-’re catching it and tonight we just couldn’t hang onto it. I think we heard footsteps a couple times. We haven’t had that problem all year. Hopefully it was just a one-night deal and next week we get back into the way we do things.”
For the game, the Knights finished with 328 of their 358 yards on the ground. Madison had a monster night, rushing for 185 yards and four TDs and throwing for a touchdown. Cambell added 69 yards and a TD on six carries.
Stanton tallied 137 total yards.
Ernster called his team’s performance its “most complete” on both sides of the ball.
“Would have liked to throw the ball a little more the opportunity just didn’t happen,” he said. “Every time I thought ‘Hey we’re gonna throw a little bit’ we had to break a long run, but Wyatt Madison played really well. I think he played the best game of his season.”
Both teams head on the road again Friday in their regular season finals. The Knights take on East Mills (4-4) in Malvern Friday while Stanton heads to Melcher-Dallas (0-7). Kickoff is slated for 7 p.m. for both games.