Freeport eliminates Valley from playoff contention

By: Dave Mackall
Friday, October 20, 2023 | 10:51 PM

A funny thing happened Friday night at Freeport Area Athletic Stadium: Two winless high school football teams in conference play squared off with the winner still in the hunt for a WPIAL Class 3A playoff berth entering the final week of the regular season.

Drew Ross passed for 133 yards and a touchdown and rushed for another score, and Freeport earned its first Allegheny 6 Conference victory in its final home game, a 27-0 decision against Valley.

Freeport (3-6, 1-3), which ended a five-game losing streak, visits Deer Lakes on Friday. The Lancers (6-3, 2-2) edged Shady Side Academy, 41-35, to remain in the playoff hunt.

“Whoever wins next week, the loser goes home,” Freeport coach John Gaillot said.

Valley (2-7, 0-4), which was eliminated from playoff contention, plays host to Knoch on Friday in its final game.

“Good defense, no offense,” Valley coach Mark Adams said. “They pushed us around up front and we found ourselves deep in our pocket for much of the night.”

Colton Otterman scored a pair of touchdowns for Freeport on runs of 10 and 7 yards and contributed 89 yards to the Yellowjackets’ ground attack. Justin Jack rushed for 81 of his 91 yards in the second half.

Freeport outgained Valley in total yards, 335-109, and limited the Vikings to 27 yards rushing.

“It’s nice to get a win after a five-week drought,” Gaillot said. “We definitely needed it — and we need the next one, too. Deer Lakes is very, very good, well-rounded in all aspects.”

With rain creating slick conditions — particularly in the first half — both teams experienced difficulty handling the ball.

Freeport held on to the slippery pigskin enough to find the end zone twice before intermission, scoring a touchdown in each quarter.

Brady Sullivan caught a 46-yard pass from Ross with a minute to go in the first, giving the Yellowjackets a 7-0 advantage, and the lead grew to 13-0 in the second, when Otterman accepted a lateral from Ross and raced 10 yards around the right end for a touchdown, somersaulting several Valley defenders at the goal line.

“Colton is amazing,” Gaillot said of the 5-foot-11, 170-pound senior, who also plays outside linebacker and is approaching a school record for sacks in a season. “I think he’s three sacks away from the mark. He has 40-some sacks in a his career, and he’s pretty good offensively, too.”

Sullivan finished with four receptions for 71 yards for Freeport.

Valley took possession in the second half and drove into Freeport territory before the Yellowjackets’ defense clamped down and took over on downs.

“We felt like we were right there in the first half,” Adams said. “But when you come out in the second half, you’ve still got to move the ball. If we’re able to put points on the board coming out of the locker room, it’s a different ball game.”

Adams came away impressed with Freeport’s effort.

“Hats off to them for the work they did,” he said. “They’ve got some good ball players over there. I liked what I saw. We’ve just got go back to the grind and finish out the season.”

Tags: Freeport, Valley