BEVERLY - Fort Frye football continued its impressive run Friday night with a 40-6 victory over the Frontier Cougars.
The win comes a week after the Cadets defeated the always tough Monroe Central. They are now 4-2 overall with a 2-1 record in the PVC. The Cadets find themselves in contention for the top spot in the conference.
"They see it," Huck said of his team. "Take it one game at a time of course. We've just got to stay focused. They know what they're capable of accomplishing, and they're willing to work for it. It's a great group of kids."
Article Photos
JORDAN HOLLAND The Marietta Times
Fort Frye’s Spencer Lang stiff arms a Frontier defender during Pioneer Valley Conference football action in Beverly Friday night. The Cadets won 40-6.
The trio of Chandler Lang, Spencer Lang, and Max Alsbach had their typical big games. Chandler threw for 218 yards and three scores, while rushing for 47 yards and a score. Spencer rushed for 78 yards and a touchdown while posting 59 receiving yards and a score. Alsbach was the game's top runner with 120 yards on 17 carries.
But the Cadets also got a big performance from another senior, tight end Tyser Shilling. Shilling had three receptions for 113 yards and two touchdowns, while also nailing down 12 tackles and a sack on defense.
"Everyone got to their blocks, which made it easier for me to catch the ball and get into the open field," Shilling said. "I just kept my eyes downfield. Once I saw people coming across the field, I just cut back and ran my heart out. It was probably my best game ever."
Fact Box
Fort Frye 40, Frontier 6
Frontier 0 0 0 6 - 6
Fort Frye 14 13 13 0 - 40
1st quarter
FF:
S. Lang 24 run, C. Lang kick, 8:32
FF:
S. Lang 21 pass from C. Lang, C. Lang kick, 2:51
2nd quarter
FF:
C. Lang 28 run, C. Lang kick, 9:53
FF:
Shilling 38 pass from C. Lang, kick blocked, 2:33
3rd quarter
FF:
Shilling 47 pass from C. Lang, conversion failed, 8:09
FF:
Massey 5 run, Zach Prichard kick, 2:58
4th quarter
Fr:
Merckle 1 run, conversion failed, 8:21
Team stats:
First downs:
Fort Frye 17, Frontier 10; Rushing: Fort Frye 38:267, 3td, Frontier 34:96, 1td; Total yards: Fort Frye 494, Frontier 175; Penalties/yds: Fort frye 6/95, Frontier 6/47; Fumbles/lost: Fort Frye 0/0, Frontier 2/1; Punts/avg: Fort Frye 0/0, Frontier 2/37.5
Individual stats:
Rushing: Fort Frye: Alsbach 17:120; S. Lang 8:78, 1td; C. Lang 4:47, 1td; Luke Yates 4:21; Massey 1:5, 1td; Frontier: Merckle 11:57, 1td; Humphrey 11:37; Farnsworth 1:9; Passing: Fort Frye: C. Lang 9:13:218, 3td; Terren Huck 1:1:9; Frontier: Jefferson 5:12:69; Reynolds 1:1:10; Receiving: Fort Frye: Shilling 3:113, 2td; S. Lang 3:59, 1td; Massey 1:24; Huck 1:12; Alsbach 1:10; Levi Baker 1:9; Frontier: Dusty Wright 3:62; Merckle 1:11
Next games:
Caldwell at Frontier at 7 p.m. Friday; Fort Frye at Buckeye Trail at 7 p.m. Friday
Overall, Fort Frye outgained Frontier 494 yards to 175. In what was homecoming week for the Cadets, they did not seem to be distracted, coming a Taylor Merckle one yard touchdown run short of a second consecutive shutout.
"We tried not to let homecoming get in the way," said Spencer Lang, who was announced homecoming king at halftime. "It would've been great to shut them out. They got one, but that's fine. We still played a hell of a game."
Spencer started the scoring with nine minutes to go in the first quarter. After recovering a Frontier fumble, the Cadets got great field position, and capitalized with a 25 yard scoring run by Spencer.
Later in the quarter, Spencer got his second touchdown on a 23 yard pass from Chandler. The score was set up by first down runs of 15 yards and six yards by Chandler, as well as a ten yard pass to Terren Huck. Chandler added the PAT to make it 14-0 Fort Frye.
With 9:53 in the second quarter, Chandler got into the end zone for the second time, this time on a 28 yard scamper.
After a Garrett Hall sack forced a Frontier punt, the Cadets went immediately back to work. The drive started with runs of 24 yards and eight yards by Alsbach. After an Eddie Salazar sack set up 2nd and 20, Chandler hit Shilling for a 38 yard scoring strike. The point after failed, making it 27-0 Cadets at the half.
Chandler hit Shilling again for a touchdown, this time from 47 yards out, to open up the second half.
On Fort Frye's final scoring drive, Justin Massey scored on an end around from five yards out. The drive was boosted by a 28 yard catch by Shilling and a 25 yard run by Alsbach.
Frontier finally got on the board in the fourth quarter, on Merckle's one yard run, to make the score 40-6.
Cougar head coach Todd Bradford was impressed with the performance by the Cadets.
"I think we didn't give them enough credit," Bradford said. "We had trouble tackling. They were a little more prepared tonight, and they got their jobs done. That's a good football team."
Individually for the Cougars, Merckle led with 50 rushing yards on 11 carries and a touchdown. Jordan Jefferson completed five passes on 12 attempts for 69 yards. His number one target was Dusty Wright, who had three catches for 62 yards.
After accumulating 176 penalty yards a week ago versus Beallsville, the Cougars only committed six penalties for 47 yards this week, compared to six penalties for 95 yards for the Cadets. Defensively for Fort Frye, Shilling, Hall, and Dylan Bowman all got to the quarterback for a sack. Chandler led the team with 15 tackles on the night.
"I'm pretty pleased defensively," Huck said. "We keep getting better on defense, which is what we have to keep doing with the teams we've got coming up." The Cadets look to make it three wins in a row next week in a huge PVC game against Buckeye Trail, who is first in the PVC. The Cougars hope to rebound at home next week when they host the Redskins of Caldwell.
