Freeport faces familiar challenge against Mt. Pleasant in opening round of playoffs

By: Michael Love
Wednesday, October 30, 2024 | 7:17 PM

Purchase Photo Options

Previous Next

The Mt. Pleasant and Freeport football teams are no strangers to one other.

The Vikings and Yellowjackets met as nonconference foes the past two seasons and as members of the same conference as recently as 2019.

The teams again will be back together on the same field Friday evening in a WPIAL Class 3A first-round contest at Freeport Area Athletic Stadium.

Kickoff is set for 7 p.m.

“It’s a great feeling to have one more home game for the home fans,” senior tight end/linebacker Sean Selinger said.

“We didn’t get a bye like we had hoped for at the beginning of the season, but to be back in the playoffs is a great feeling. We’re excited for the challenge in playing Mt. Pleasant. They are a good football team. They beat us last year, but I felt we should’ve won that game. We’re looking forward to another opportunity to go after them.”

Freeport is back in the playoffs after a one-year hiatus, while Mt. Pleasant makes its sixth straight postseason appearance and hopes to stop a mini two-game losing streak.

“In my 17 years as Freeport coach, we’ve played (Mt. Pleasant) at least 10 times,” Freeport coach John Gaillot said.

“We know each other very well. Their coach (Jason Fazekas) and his staff really get their kids ready to play. It’s going to be a dogfight for both of us. I think we are very similar teams. We have tough mentalities and take great pride in that.

“It is huge for us to be back in the playoffs. It’s big because probably 99% of the kids have never played in a playoff game. It’s going to be a great experience, and we’re going to battle to the end.”

The Vikings last scored a playoff win in 2021 with a Class 3A first-round triumph over Burrell as the No. 6 seed before falling in the quarterfinals to No. 3 Avonworth.

“We always talk about what we need to accomplish to reach our goal every year of making it to the playoffs,” Fazekas said. “It is something we don’t take lightly. We understand the importance of it. We started off the week with good practices to be ready for what we feel is going to be a pretty tough game.

“We didn’t even need to put on the tape of Freeport to know that we’re going to see a team that is going to play hard-nosed, fast and physical football. They are a well-coached team that is going to be in the right spots to make plays. When we did get into the film, we were working on things to see how best to apply our schemes against them on both sides of the ball. It’s going to be a really good challenge for us on Friday.”

Freeport is averaging 31.1 points a game and giving up 17.9 a contest. Mt. Pleasant is scoring 23 points a game and surrendering 26.2.

Both Gaillot and Fazekas stressed that while it would be fun to match up with WPIAL power Central Valley, the No. 2 seed, in the quarterfinals next week, the focus is squarely on Friday night and taking care of the business in front of them.

Senior Cole Chatfield, in his fourth season as Mt. Pleasant’s quarterback, is a name familiar to the Freeport team and fans. He has completed 51 of 95 passes for 920 yards and five touchdowns.

“Cole is just a tremendous athlete who is very smart with the ball,” Gaillot said. “He really takes charge in the huddle. He can throw the ball, but his legs can hurt you, too.”

The Vikings have five players who have at least 40 carries this season, led by Brody Hutter with 87 attempts for 448 yards. He owns eight total touchdowns.

Jarrett Garn is a dual threat in the Vikings’ offense with more than 400 yards rushing and receiving. He fronts the offense with 13 total touchdowns.

He was a highlight in last Friday’s game with Elizabeth Forward as he rushed for a 3-yard touchdown, caught one for 87 yards and returned a kickoff 97 yards for a score.

Freeport ran into a buzzsaw Friday against top-seeded Imani Christian in the regular-season finale

Junior Drew Ross threw touchdown passes to Selinger and junior Owen Niestein to account for the Yellowjackets’ two scores in the 44-14 loss.

The loss snapped a five-game winning streak.

“I thought we played pretty well,” Gaillot said. “It’s just the splash plays that got us. Four of their scores were probably 50 to 60 yards or more. We were able to do some good things and get a couple of scores on the board. There were a number of passes we were just inches from completing. We had several opportunities we didn’t take advantage of that could’ve made it a closer game.”

Michael Love is a TribLive reporter covering sports in the Alle-Kiski Valley and the eastern suburbs of Pittsburgh. A Clearfield native and a graduate of Westminster (Pa.), he joined the Trib in 2002 after spending five years at the Clearfield Progress. He can be reached at mlove@triblive.com.

Tags: Freeport, Mt. Pleasant