High school football: Long drives lead Fremont over Northridge

OGDEN — The good news for Northridge is that the Knights won't have to face Fremont tailback Nick Vigil anymore this season, unless the two schools happen to meet in the playoffs.

The bad news? Vigil's only a sophomore, meaning Northridge will have to try and find a way to stop him for two more years.

Vigil's 210 yards and two touchdowns on 43 carries, along with a stifling defense that shut the Knights offense down, powered Fremont (4-3, 4-2) to a 28-7 Region 1 victory over Northridge (3-4, 1-4) Wednesday night.

For those in attendance, it looked like Fremont's game plan was pretty simple: Give the ball to Vigil and let him run.

"We hoped we could run the ball coming into the game and get some clock killers and some really good drives," Fremont coach Kory Bosgieter said. "We wanted to keep their offense off the field."

That game plan worked to perfection. The Silver Wolves used two long, back-breaking drives in the first and fourth quarters to wear down the Knights' defense and put the ball in the end zone.

After holding Northridge to a 3-and-out on their first possession, Fremont took over at their own 30-yard line with 11:26 to go. They would keep the ball the rest of the quarter, driving 70 yards in 19 plays, capped off by a Vigil 2-yard touchdown run on the first play of the second quarter. Vigil ran the ball on 13 of those 19 plays.

"The line made a lot of big holes, and the wide receivers blocked great out on the edge," Vigil said. "We knew it was going to be a tough game, we had to come out and play."

The second long drive of the night came as Fremont took possession to begin the fourth. Leading 21-7, the Silver Wolves put the game away by driving 75 yards in 8:25, with Vigil once again finding the end zone to cap it off. After the game, Vigil admitted to feeling a little fatigue, as he expected to carry the load after a rain throughout the day made game conditions cold and wet.

"I'm a little sore, but the offensive line protected me pretty good," he said. "They got a lot of good pushes and played great."

Just as important in the win for Fremont was the defense, who limited Northridge to a measly 33 yards rushing and just 75 through the air. The Silver Wolves defense put pressure Knights' quarterback Travis Harper all night, forcing him to throw two interceptions, which were picked off by Ty Willie and Zac Christian.

"I thought we were pretty disciplined tonight, and I thought we were pretty physical," Bosgieter said. "They got after it tonight."

Fremont hopes to keep its momentum next week at Viewmont, while Northridge takes on Roy at home.