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Freeport’s offense overcomes conditions, cruises past Burrell

By: HSSN Staff
Saturday, September 30, 2017 | 12:24 AM

No matter how a team wants to play it, Freeport has no problem adjusting.

A steady downpour soaked the natural-grass surface for an hour leading up to kickoff between the Yellowjackets and Allegheny Conference rival Burrell. With a muddy and slick surface not optimal for the speed and quickness of Freeport's offense, the Yellowjackets turned to a the power running game.

Freeport junior running back Conor Selinger rushed for a game-high 154 and two touchdowns to lead the Yellowjackets to a 44-0 win that kept Freeport (4-1, 3-0) perfect in the Allegheny Conference.

“We just came and played hard-nosed football, and I'd like to thank my line,” said Selinger who carried 20 times before being pulled in the fourth quarter. “The coaches told me that I'd be getting the ball a lot because of the conditions.”

After a scoreless first quarter where the Burrell (1-5, 0-4) defense seemed to be succeeding at keeping the Freeport big-play offense off the scoreboard, Yellowjackets quarterback Austin Romanchak found senior wide receiver Jacob Sarver for a 53-yard touchdown pass on the first play from scrimmage to start the second quarter to give Freeport a 7-0 lead after Sarver's extra point.

“I really like how we don't collapse, and we respond very well,” Freeport coach John Gaillot said about his team's slow start.

The Bucs offense went three-and-out on the following drive and punted. Burrell's defense hung tough after giving up a touchdown on the previous series, but Freeport decided to go for it on fourth-and-15 from the Bucs' 38-yard line.

Romanchak dropped back to pass and hung a ball up in the air for Luke Kennedy, who pulled in a tipped pass at the Burrell 5 before taking it into the end zone. Burrell never recovered.

“The Kennedy kid made a great catch on that (play). Seth Fischbach had pretty good coverage, and it's a lesson,” Burrell coach Dave Bellinotti said. “We're a young team, and momentum is so fragile. When you lose (momentum) with a young team, every play is a growing pain.”

Freeport received the second-half kickoff and drove 56 yards on five plays before Selinger scored the first of his two 3-yard touchdown runs.

The Burrell offense was off all night as quarterback Seth Tatrn struggled to find open receivers. Freeport sacked Tatrn four times, with three coming in the second half.

“With adversity comes growing pains, and we're having a lot of those now,” Bellinotti said.

Romanchak came back on Freeport's second drive of the third quarter and scored on a 35-yard touchdown run to put Freeport up 28-0 with a little more than six minutes remaining in the quarter.

Romanchak finished 4-of-8 passing for 105 yards and two touchdowns and had 70 rushing yards on 10 carries to keep the Bucs defense on their heels.

Selinger scored on a 3-yard run to put the Yellowjackets up 35-0 to end the third quarter.

“He's amazing,” Gaillot said of Selinger. “He's a hard-nosed runner and runs downhill. He showed us some moves that I didn't see last year. I'm really excited at the way he performed.”

Freeport backup running back Miles Troup scored on a 58-yard touchdown run early in the fourth quarter, and the Yellowjackets special-teams unit added a safety following a botched punt attempt in the Burrell end zone to close the scoring.

Bitar led Burrell with 58 yards rushing on 12 carries, and Tatrn finished 3 of 8 for 29 yards passing.

“The second half has really been our half,” Gaillot said. “We really don't focus down the road or what our record is. We're only as good as our next game.”

William Whalen is a freelance writer.

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