Freedom Bulldogs defeat Hopewell Vikings 18-3 despite low-scoring first half @FHSBulldogBeat @FHSPress

Tagged under: District 7, Gameday Hub, News

PFN Staff | August 26, 2019

(Jalynn Falk/ MATTHEW LEVENSON )

The Freedom Bulldogs defeated the Hopewell Vikings 18-3 after both sides struggled to get their offenses going for the majority of the first half. Both the Bulldogs and the Vikings were playing lock down defense, not giving Freedom quarterback Cole Beck or Hopewell quarterback Jay’Von Jeter any space to throw the ball.

Freedom running back Maxwell Ujhazy was the first player to get the offensive ball rolling, breaking for a 54-yard-run from his team’s goaline. This play got the Bulldogs moving downfield and a few minutes later Ujhazy capped off the drive with a five-yard-run, scoring the first touchdown of the night.

Midway through the third quarter, sophomore Joshua Pail put the Bulldogs up 12-0 after rushing into the endzone from the goaline.

Towards the end of the third quarter the Bulldogs were driving once again and on the first play of the fourth quarter junior Brett Boyd ran the ball four yards into the endzone, putting the Bulldogs ahead by 18 points.

Hopewell managed to complete a few long passes in the fourth quarter and was able to kick a field goal to ultimately make the final score 18-3. Their three interceptions and lack of offense for most of the game put them too far behind to make a comeback.

Leading Freedom defensively was senior Dylan Goodrich who racked up ten tackles, one of which was for a loss, as well as an interception with three minutes and 17 seconds left in the first half.

“No one ever expects to make big plays like that, they just kinda happen and I’m just happy to do it and I just go out there and play 100 percent,” Goodrich said.

Senior Dylan Goodrich runs with the ball that he intercepted off of an attempted pass to Hopewell tight end Connor Wayne. This was Freedom’s second of three interceptions for the night.

“Listen, Dylan Goodrich is a godsend. I don’t know where he came from. I know I’m new here and I never met the kid before but I saw the way he competed in the offseason, even just getting ready and it caught my eye and he’s just done everything we’ve asked him to do to the best of his ability. He did a really good job. It’s his first game, he’s only going to get better,” Toney said.

Goodrich is one of the team’s outside linebackers and this is his first year playing football at the high school level. He was awarded captain status based on his preseason performance and leadership in the offseason.

“We stayed the course. We went in at half time and changed some things and made some adjustments and I give [Hopewell] a lot of credit, they were very well prepared, they were fast and they were aggressive on defense and our kids were a little caught off guard at first but you know what, they kept after it and eventually things started going our way and I’m proud of them. I’m proud of the way they played. They did a great job,” Freedom Head Coach Gregg Toney said.

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