FREEPORT

Freeport’s 14-point lead was like getting an ominous call in the middle of the night for the Spruce Mountain Phoenix.

The Falcons dominated the entire the first quarter with a textbook drive before the Phoenix (4-1) got their offense off the ground and into the air to slip away with a 28-21 Class C South victory over Freeport (1-4) in a high school football game at Freeport’s Pownal Road Field on a cloudy and chilly Saturday afternoon.

“It is just like you see when programs make strides like Freeport did,” Spruce Mountain coach David Frey said. “I knew coming down here they were going to give us a game, but the question is how were we going to be when we came out, especially a Saturday afternoon game?”

Freeport leads

Freeport started the game’s first drive from the 20-yard. The march lasted nearly 11 minutes before it finally reached the 1-yard line, where senior quarterback

Josh Burke bulldozed his way into the endzone. Jacob Tomm booted the kick and the Falcons had themselves a 7-0 lead.

“A drive like that puts a smile on a coach’s face,” Freeport coach Paul St. Pierre said.

A recovered Spruce fumble helped set up Freeport’s second touchdown that began from the F-39. After a 2-yard rush, Burke stepped back in the pocket and connected with senior Mike Foss for 54-yard pass to bring the Falcons to the SM- 5. At the 4, Hunter Demers came across with a TD. Tomm split the uprights and Freeport was in control, 14- 0.

“I saw when we first came out, we were flat,” Coach Frey said. “We were down 14-0. You could see some heads dropping. At halftime, I spoke to them, ‘You have to believe. We are still in this.’ We were going to get the ball in the third quarter. We were going to go down and score. We got a kickoff return (TD) that helped.

“It was a total team effort. We had some huge pass plays. Brett has been throwing the ball very well the last few weeks. Nick Lombardi was huge, especially on that interception at the end. Overall, I thought we played well.”

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