Mt. Pleasant’s ground game steamrolls Freeport

By: Mike Ciarochi
Friday, October 18, 2019 | 11:16 PM

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Like a fine wine, Mt. Pleasant’s ground game seems to get better with age.

The Vikings rode their running game to a convincing 35-7 win over Freeport on Senior Night on Friday to remain in contention for a WPIAL Class AAA playoff berth.

First things first, though, according to coach Jason Fazekas.

“We have a shot, but we were more worried about tonight and getting this win,” Fazekas said. “Freeport is a tough team, and we were fortunate to come out of this game on the plus side.”

Freeport came in after an overtime loss to Burrell and seemed intent on passing the ball all over the field, but Mt. Pleasant countered with a strong ball-control running game that kept Yellowjackets quarterback Garret Schaffhauser either on the sideline or in the defensive secondary for much of the night.

Jake Johnson led the ground attack with 20 carries for 189 yards and three touchdowns, including a 93-yard thing of beauty that staked the Vikings to a 14-0 lead with 2 minutes, 29 seconds left in the first quarter.

The big play came just after Freeport had pinned the Vikings deep when a punt was downed at the 7-yard line.

What did Johnson see on the game-breaking burst?

“I saw a big hole starting to open up,” the 6-foot-3, 180-pound senior said. “I knew if I got through that hole, nobody was catching me. Nick Loughner threw a great block for me on that play.”

“We called a play that we thought we had,” Fazekas said. “I’m really not surprised when Jake breaks one anymore.”

With the 14-0 lead, the Vikings kept pounding the running game and Mt. Pleasant’s defense kept digging in and creating turnovers. Three consecutive Freeport possessions ended in turnovers before Mt. Pleasant cashed in. Big Pete Billey, all 6-2, 225-pounds of him, did the cashing.

Billey made it 21-0 with a 30-yard TD run just inside the seven-minute mark of the second quarter. Billey finished the game with 12 carries for 119 yards and a score.

“It’s always good when your defense is turning it over,” Fazekas said. “The No. 1 thing is keeping them out of the end zone.”

Freeport (4-4, 4-4) looked determined to find the end zone at the beginning of the third quarter and succeeded when Schaffhauser found Brodey Woods from 11 yards out to make it 21-7 with 7:02 left.

But the Vikings got back to — no surprise — the ground game to reclaim control. Johnson, Billey and Loughner all had carries as Mt. Pleasant marched 80 yards on nine running plays, with Johnson getting his third score of the night with 2:32 left in the third to make it 28-7.

“Our more experienced backs see the holes better,” Johnson said. “We’ve been getting better in the running game as the season has progressed.”

Louchner got rewarded for his stellar blocking when he pulled in a 61-yard scoring pass from Asher O’Conner to cap the scoring.

Mt. Pleasant (4-5, 3-4) needs to win at Uniontown next Friday and still needs some help to reach the postseason.

“We’ve been trying all year to turn our program around,” Johnson said. “We really need to beat Uniontown and we’ll be all right.”

Tags: Freeport, Mt. Pleasant