Freeport hopes to shore up defense
Ninety-four points in two weeks.
That's what the Freeport Yellowjackets have surrendered in the past two weeks, a 46-27 loss to Kittanning followed by a 48-14 loss to Burrell last Friday.
The Yellowjackets will hope to stop a disturbing trend in Friday's 7:30 p.m. match-up at West Shamokin.
Both teams are tied for last place with identical records of 0-3 in the Allegheny Conference and 1-4 overall.
The Wolves are coming off a 48-0 loss at the hands of Deer Lakes, who had been tied with West Shamokin entering the game.
Freeport had two rushing scores - a 24-yarder in the first quarter by quarterback Bryan Zimmerman to give the Yellowjackets an early 7-0 lead and a 1-yarder by Kirk Naedele late in the third quarter.
Zimmerman passed for 88 yards and rushed for 38 more. Freeport surrendered 510 yards to the Bucs in the loss.
Grove City at Hickory, 7 p.m. Friday
- Jeff Bell has been here before.
The Grove City High School football coach has been in a situation where every game is a playoff game. The Eagles went through all of last season feeling that pressure.
Grove City is in playoff mode again.
When the Eagles take on Hickory, they will face a team in a similar win-or-else predicament.
"Hickory is on life support right now," Bell said. "We're playing a team where anything goes. If they need to run an onside kick, they are going to do it.
"Our kids are looking at Hickory. They know this is a playoff game. If we lose, we're in a real, real bad situation."
Grove City (3-1 overall, 2-1 in Region 3) is coming off a 34-31 overtime victory over Slippery Rock.
Hickory, which started 2-0 and looked good in doing it, has dropped its last two games, 69-28 against Wilmington and 22-18 last week against Reynolds.
Grove City managed a mere 46 yards rushing on 30 carries. Chris Clark had a 54-yard touchdown run on a draw play with one second left in the first half. That was the only Grove City run of more than seven yards.
Clarion (4-0, 3-0) at Union (04, 0-3), 7 p.m. Friday
- As if things can't get any worse for Union, they do.
The Golden Knights, who have been outscored 174-12 this season face a Clarion team that has blown past all comers.
Clarion has scored 171 points in four games, including a 71-0 win over A-C Valley a few weeks ago.
Clarion running back Chris McSwain has rushed for 536 yards and 10 touchdowns this season and quarterback Sean Wolf has thrown for 384 yards and five scores. Manny Carpin is his main target, hauling in 18 passes for 296 yards and all five touchdowns.
Union is led by its two players named Davis - Colton and Colby. The duo have scored both Union touchdowns and have accounted for 508 yards rushing.
Shenango (1-4, 1-2) at Summit Academy (1-4, 0-3), 12:30 p.m. Saturday -
The Knights were held to seven total yards of offense in a 38-8 loss to Mars.
Brad Walker's 85-yard kickoff return accounted for the Knights' lone score.
Shenango fell behind 42-0 at the half and dropped a 49-13 decision to Mohawk.
The Wildcats scored their two touchdowns to close out the scoring in the fourth quarter when Spencer Haben rushed for a 9-yard touchdown and Aaron Maxwell completed a 51-yard pass to Luke O'Hara.
