1-2 punch KOs 'Jackets
FREEPORT — For most of the contest, the Freeport and Kittanning football teams were locked in a defensive gem.
But with less than two minutes remaining, Kittanning erupted for two back-breaking plays on the way to a 21-7 road win Friday night.
Facing a third-and-15 at his own 1-yard line, Kittanning running back Bob Keys sprinted right, side-stepped a defender at the 10 and outraced another Freeport defender to complete a 99-yard touchdown run.
A minute later, Keys rambled 65 yards for another score.
Keys gained 227 yards on 14 carries and scored three times, but 211 of those yards came on three long touchdown runs. Between Keys' 47-yard touchdown on the Wildcats' first drive and his last minute heroics, the Yellowjackets defense kept him and the rest of the Kittanning offense bottled up.
Freeport's defense got stronger and more confident as the game wore on.
On a third-and-20 from its own 10 at the start of the fourth quarter, Freeport surprised Kittanning with a punt to gain extra field position.
The gambit worked.
After two holding penalties and a sack, Kittanning faced a fourth-and-43 and had to punt.
Freeport's offense failed to capitalize, but the Yellowjackets punted and pinned Kittanning at their own the 6-yard line.
After a 2-yard loss on first down, the Freeport defense sacked Wildcats quarterback Andrew Snyder at the 1. Keys' 99-yard run on the next play doomed the Yellowjackets.
"We had a guy lined up on the wrong side, and I tried to call a timeout," Freeport coach Bill Dillen said of the fateful 99-yard play, "But they didn't hear me."
Kittanning coach Sam Panchik said he didn't make any adjustments to spring Keys free.
"The offensive line was finally able to open holes and get him into the secondary," he said. "Once he's in the secondary, with his speed, he's gone."
The Freeport offense was never able to get anything working against the Kittanning defense.
The Yellowjackets' only score came on a Keys fumble in the first quarter. Linebacker Darius Frantz scooped the ball up and bulled his way seven yards for the score.
Freeport had a chance to knot the game at 14 with less than two minutes left.
Two passes into Kittanning territory were dropped. When a fourth-and-10 pass gained only nine yards, and Keys followed with his final TD run, the game was over and Freeport was staring at an 0-2 start.
