FOX CHAPEL— Missed opportunities haunted Freeport in the first half of its season-opening football game Saturday at McKelvy Memorial Field.

Especially when no opportunities presented themselves in the second half.

The Yellowjackets had possession inside Shady Side Academy's 35-yard line four times in the first two quarters, but managed only three points in suffering a 16-3 loss to the Indians.

"We couldn't finish anything off,"Freeport coach Bill Dillen said. "They're much bigger than we are up front and we had trouble jamming the ball in once we got down close."

Freeport rushed for only 75 yards as a team all day.

Leading 8-3 at intermission, the host Indians took the second-half kickoff and drove 78 yards in 12 plays, eating 6:03 off the clock. Brian Nickel scored his second touchdown of the game on a 5-yard run.

Arlen Greenberg ran into the end zone for Shady Side's second two-point conversion of the day — the first was on a pass off a faked kick from placement — and the Indians had their 13-point lead.

Freeport managed only three first downs in the second half and never crossed midfield.

"We've got most of our starters back from last year and we have eight seniors on the field pretty much all the time,"Shady Side coach Dave Havern said. "That made a difference today.

"Last year, we lost a lot of games by a touchdown's margin or less. There we were again at halftime, looking at a similar margin. I told the kids, it's like we have 24 minutes to live. Let's live."

Freeport started the first possession of the game in Shady Side territory and a 12-yard run by Cameron Betush gave the Yellowjackets a first down at the Indians' 32-yard line. But Bestush fumbled two plays later and Shady Side's Billy Nickel recovered.

The 'Jackets drove to Shady Side's 22 on their next possession. Quarterback Matt Lucas was sacked for a 10-yard loss by Rob Ruffner on third down and a 4th-and-18 pass fell incomplete.

Trailing 8-0 in the second quarter, Freeport marched inside the Indians' 5-yard line, Betush catching a 33-yard pass to highlight the drive. On fourth down from the 3, however, a bad snap caused Andrew Vidra to miss a 20-yard field goal attempt.

Lucas connected with Tyler Collins on a 42-yard pass as the 'Jackets got inside the 5-yard line again on their next possession. A delay of game penalty on 3rd-and-2 from the 4-yard line resulted in an incomplete pass in the end zone.

Vidra booted a 26-yard field goal for Freeport's only points of the game.

Shady Side Academy 16, Freeport 3

Freeport 0 3 0 0—3Shady Side Acad. 0 8 8 0—16F SSA10 First Downs 1533-75 Rushes-Yards 39-15491 Passing Yards 855-11-1 Passes (Comp.-Att.-Int.) 4-9-0166 Total Yards 2393-2 Fumbles/Lost 0-03-15 Penalties-Yards 7-35

Second QuarterSSA— Brian Nickel 16 run (Remington Jackson pass from Arlen Greenberg),10:45F — Andrew Vidra 26 field goal, :34

Third QuarterSSA— Nickel 5 run (Greenberg run), 5:57

Individual Statistics

Passing: Freeport, Matt Lucas 5-11-91-1. Shady Side Academy, Dan Rooney 4-9-85-0.

Rushing: Freeport, Kirk Naedele 12-23, Matt Lucas 4-4, Cameron Betush 7-13, Austin Shockey 6-24, Andrew Vidra 2-(-2), Matt Shurina 1-6, Mike Trusik 1-7. Shady Side Academy, Dan Rooney 5-(-10), Roman San Doval 15-58, Tim Giel 1-0, Brian Nickel 17-98, Arlen Greenberg 1-8.

Receiving: Freeport, Austin Shockey 1-8, Cameron Bestush 2-40, Tyler Collins 1-42, John Douglas 1-1. Shady Side Academy, Roman San Doval 2-34, Mont Pooley 1-23, Phil Soeder 1-27.