BUFFALO TWP — The Freeport football team's first win of the season slipped away in the fourth quarter Friday night.

Freeport's 27-21 loss at home to Elizabeth Forward (3-0, 3-0) brings the Yellowjackets to 0-3 overall and in the conference.

Freeport backup quarterback Garrett Schaffhauser came in to replace hobbling starter Austin Romanchak. He drove the ball down the field with a 23-yard pass, then took the ball himself for an 18-yard run.

An Elizabeth Forward defensive tackle hit Schaffhauser, who was alreadyon the ground, prompting a late-hit penalty.

On the next snap, the ball slipped through Schaffhauser's fingers. A scramble for the ball ensued and 20 yards in the wrong direction, the Warriors retrieved the fumble and ran the clock down.

“They're devastated. We lost another tight one,” Freeport coach John Gaillot said. “My hat's off to (my players) for giving it everything they got again.”

Freeport led 21-12 after three quarters of play and even saw the return of their starting running back Conor Selinger, who ran for 33 yards and one touchdown.

Quarterback Romanchak, who did return in the closing minutes of the game, scored a rushing touchdown in the first half, and set up another in the third quarter with a 11-yard pass to receiver Evan McCrea. McCrea pitched the ball to fellow receiverPatrick Keeley, who ran 22 yards for his team's final touchdown of the game.

“That's key, we need those two. We need everybody,” Gaillot said. “Weneed nine others that play as a unit, which I feel we do.”

Elizabeth Forward found traction in the fourth, but had been finding big gains all night. The Warriors completed 17 plays for more than 10-yard gains with three of the plays well over 30 yards.

“From eye-level, it's kind of hard to see exactly what was the breakdown,” Gaillot said. “We'll have to check that out.”

Despite putting up points, the Yellowjackets also saw a lot of pressure on the quarterback and found big yardage in the running game on scrambles.

“They brought people and we burned them on a number of them. We just had to get past the linebackers by splitting them,” Gaillot said. “The kids played their heart out, there's nothing you can really do.”

Gaillot said he wants his guys to put the last three games behind them.

“We played three very tough teams, conference or WPIAL playoff teams,” Gaillot said. “We just gotta flush all three of these games and look to the next one. We'll get the first one and try to go on a roll.”

Eliz. Forward 0 6 6 15 — 27

Freeport 7 7 7 0 — 21

First Quarter

F — Austin Romanchak 17 run (Ricky Hunter kick), 1:27

Second Quarter

EF — Andrew Smith 30 field goal, 9:08

F — Conor Selinger 3 run (Hunter kkck), 1:51

Third Quarter

EF — Nathan Alberts 46 pass from Zachary Benedek (run failed), 7:06

F — Patrick Keeley 18 run (Hunter kick), 3:08

Fourth Quarter

EF — Benedek 11 run (Smith kick), 11:55

EF — Alberts 36 pass from Benedek (Benedek run), 6:14

Individual Statistics

Rushing: Elizabeth Forward, Zachary Benedek 18-120, Dontae Gilbert 10-92, Evan Lewis 2-10, Chris Makosey 2-2. Freeport, Austin Romanchak 14-98, Conor Selinger 12-33, Isiah Bauman 3-25, Patrick Keeley 1-22, Garrett Schaffhaiser 1-18, Jewlius Barnes 2-5

Passing: Elizabeth Forward, Zachary Benedek9-22-155-0. Freeport, Austin Ronanchak 6-13-91-1, Garrett Schaffhauser 1-2-23-0.

Receiving: Elizabeth Forward, Nathan Alberts 3-94, Nico Mrvos 4-43, Austin Rhone 1-11, Evan Lewis 1-7. Freeport, Evan McCrea 3-69, Patrick Keeley 2-30, Garrett Schaffhauser 1-13, Conor Selinger 1-2.