Freedom crushes Ellwood City 44-6 in Homecoming game @FHS Press

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Luke Snavely | October 10, 2020

The Bulldogs line up, ready to make another stop against the Wolverines.

On Oct. 10, the Freedom Bulldogs faced the Ellwood City Wolverines in the Bulldogs’ Homecoming game. After a great win against the Laurel Spartans on Oct. 2, the Bulldogs looked to gain another win against the Wolverines. Meanwhile, the Wolverines were looking to get their first win of the season.

Before the game, Freedom senior football player David Martsolf and senior cheerleader Courtney Grunnagle were acknowledged as the Homecoming King and Queen.

The game then went underway with an eventful first quarter. On the Bulldogs’ second drive, with six minutes and 40 seconds remaining in the first quarter, senior quarterback Cole Beck connected with senior Reiker Welling for the first touchdown of the game. The Wolverines were able to block the extra point attempt to make the score just 6-0.

Then, with two minutes and 24 seconds remaining in the quarter, Bulldog senior Brett Boyd scored a one-yard touchdown to make the score 12-0.

With an unsuccessful extra point attempt in the last scoring drive, the Bulldogs looked to shake things up. The Bulldogs ran a fake extra point attempt, where junior Carter Slowinski threw to freshman Cody Patterson for the two-point conversion. This gave the Bulldogs a 14-0 lead.

When asked about the play, senior kicker Garrett Paxton said, “We’ve been practicing that play the whole entire time. We finally got to use it, which was a plus side.”

With one minute and five seconds remaining, a Wolverine fumble recovered by Bulldog senior Trent Schultheis gave the Bulldogs great field position at the Wolverines’ 38-yard line.

The second quarter began with the Bulldogs looking to take advantage of that great field position. However, the Wolverines held them at the one-yard line. Deep in their own side of the field, the Wolverines were in trouble. The Bulldogs forced a safety to make the score 16-0.

The rest of the game went very smoothly for the Bulldogs. With six minutes and 14 seconds left in the second quarter, Beck threw a six-yard pass to junior Tristen Clear, making the score 23-0.

An interception by Boyd led the Bulldogs to score yet another touchdown with only 28 seconds remaining. Beck threw his third touchdown pass of the night to junior Josh Pail to make the score 30-0.

The Wolverines weren’t going down without a fight though. Wolverine Ashton Wilson ran 85-yards off the kick return to give the Wolverines their lone touchdown of the night. The extra point attempt was no good, so the score was 30-6 at the end of the first half.

With eight minutes and 23 seconds left in the third quarter, the Bulldogs extended their lead with a 17-yard touchdown pass from Beck to Clear. The extra point attempt was good, making the score of 37-6.

The Bulldogs added one more touchdown on the night with a 26-yard run from Boyd with 11 minutes and five seconds left in the fourth quarter.

With a dominant lead, the Bulldogs put in some of their junior varsity players to get some experience. The end of the fourth quarter sealed the final score of 44-6 Bulldogs.

Boyd and Clear led the Bulldogs in scoring, with each having two touchdowns. The Bulldogs had 153 rushing yards and 159 passing yards in their controlling Homecoming game win.

After the game, Paxton said, “It was a fun game. It was fun to watch and be a part of. Everybody was having fun, especially since we got the big win on our own field.”

Paxton even got to go in as a receiver for one play.

“My one coach told me, ‘Hey, we’re going to have you go in as a wide receiver for the very first play and try to get you a touchdown,'” Paxton said. “I was surprised to hear that, but I was ready for it.”

The Bulldogs look to keep their winning streak alive when they face the Beaver Falls Tigers on Oct. 16. The Tigers are currently undefeated, so the Bulldogs will have their work cut out for them next game.

But for now, the Bulldogs can celebrate their massive win on Homecoming night.

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