High school football: Fremont ekes out nailbiting victory over Viewmont

CENTERVILLE – High school football fans could not have dreamed up a more exciting quarter than the one Viewmont and Fremont strung together Friday night. The two combined for 26 points in the final 12 minutes, with the Silver Wolves squeaking out a 30-26 victory to keep the race to stay atop the Region standings over the final weeks equally exciting.

Down 17-7 at halftime, Viewmont regained the lead in the first minute of the fourth quarter after Garrett Bushman rushed in from 3 yards out. The Vikes missed the extra point, which was the second blocked kick by Fremont, to keep the margin at 19-17. Fremont quickly responded, and took advantage of the Vikings' one-on-one coverage and missed tackles on the first play of the ensuing drive. Brody Garr tossed a strike to Jed Craner and Craner took care of the defender for an 80-yard prance down the far sideline to put Fremont back on top 23-19.

And again the scoring gates opened up on the ensuing drive. Viewmont took its time though, running the ball on 6 of its 7 plays under backup quarterback Brennon Flannery. Bushman capped off the drive—this time from 8-yards out and Austin Duncan punched through the kick for a 26-23 lead.

After Fremont struggled to move the ball on the next drive, the Silver Wolves turned to punter Tate Lewis who had been brilliant on the night. Lewis pinned the Vikes behind the Fremont 10 for the second time. Viewmont elected to run the ball three times and try to eat up the clock on its possession. But already punting in their own end zone the Vikes hurt themselves with more missed tackles on the return, allowing Fremont to take over with 2:30 left to play on the Viewmont 30. The Silver Wolves moved the ball to the 11 and called for the halfback pass as Nick Vigil tossed a perfect floater to Lewis to put Fremont back up.

Viewmont looked to have the makings for a game-winning drive, but fell one-foot short on 4th-and-19 near the 35-yard line in Fremont territory.

"We're happy and tickled to get this win," said Fremont coach Kory Bosgieter. "Viewmont is a very good team. This is a difficult defense to play against. They came out at halftime more fired up than we were. Our kids were resilient."

Braxton Willie led the Silver Wolves' defense, recording 10 tackles and a blocked extra point to go along with a 21-yard interception return. Meanwhile Garr finished the night with 244 yards passing and two touchdowns.

"I don't want to take anything away from Viewmont, but the missed tackles really hurt us tonight," said Viewmont coach Brad Lloyd.