BUFFALO TWP — An even match is the only way to describe the beginning of Freeport and Yough football matchup Friday night.

Freeport (1-3, 1-3) hosting Yough (3-2, 3-1) for a Big East Conference game was never going to be a high-scoring game, but the hard fought win was not quite expected to see no scores until early in the second half, either.

In the end, the Yellowjackets came out on top, winning 20-0, with all points scored late in the game.

“Hats off to all the student athletes and the job they did,” said Freeport coach John Gaillot. “We're very, very proud of them for their effort all week.”

A scoreless first quarter saw a heavy battle between the two teams as both played with strong defense to prevent the other from getting farther than a few yards at a time.

The action picked up a bit about midway through the second quarter when Yough quarterback Jacob Sever managed to hit Gamal Marballie for a 34-yard pass.

Freeport punter Ricky Hunter was forced to retrieve the ball all the way back at Freeport's 10 yard line before sprinting up to the 45 for an “official” 9-yard run and a first down as he narrowly avoided Yough's defense late in the second quarter.

Neither play was enough to overcome a series of incomplete passes from both teams, causing the score to remain 0-0 at the half.

Gaillot said the goal coming back onto the field for the second half was to “just try to keep the kids to stay positive and continue to fight.”

After fighting in the beginning of the second half again, Freeport quarterback Austin Romanchak pushed the team closer and closer to the end zone with each play until Conor Selinger could rush those last 8 yards to put the first score on the clock with 6:44 still left in the third quarter.

“That was Austin just being Austin,” Gaillot said. “It just looks like there's nothing there, and then something happens.”

With momentum building, Romanchak could not be stopped for the rest of the evening as he hit Patrick Keeley with a 36-yard pass to grab a first down on the 20 with 3:06 on the clock. He immediately followed this move by rushing 17 yards for the Yellowjackets' second touchdown of the game with a difference of less than 25 seconds between plays.

Freeport led 13-0 going into the last quarter, and the Cougars simply could not recover from the tumultuous third period.

“We've always been a second half team,” Gaillot said.

For a late-in-the-game turn of events, wide receiver Keeley threw 31 yards to Freeport quarterback, Romanchak, putting the team within nine yards of scoring with just a few minutes left in the game. Garrett Schaffhauser took a 5-yard pass from Romanchak to score the last points of the game with 4:19 on the clock.

“This will probably be the signature one if we can go on a run from here on out,” Gaillot said of the win as the team looks at its upcoming games. “I can see it in their eyes that they believe full-heartedly now.”

Gaillot said practices would be focused on the team they'll be playing that week and “finding out how we can beat them.

“It's one game (at a) time,” he said.

Yough 0 0 0 0 — 0

Freeport 0 0 13 7 — 20

Third Quarter

F — Conor Selinger 8 run (Ricky Hunter kick), 6:44

F — Romanchak 17 run (kick failed), 2:44

Fourth Quarter

F — Garrett Schauffhauser 5 pass from Romanchak (Hunter kick), 4:19

Individual Statistics

Rushing: Yough, Dustin Shoaf 23-89, Jacob Sever 6-2, Gamal Marballie 2-13. Freeport, Austin Romanchak 17-41, Conor Selinger 18-80, Isiah Bauman 1-1, Ricky Hunter 4-17.

Passing: Yough, Jacob Sever 5-10-45-0, Duistin Shoaf 1-7-15-0. Freeport, Austin Romanchak 6-14-87-1, Patrick Keeley 1-1-31-0.

Receiving: Yough, Gamal Marballie 4-45, Reno Ustazewski 1-0, Tristian Walxdier 1-15. Freeport, Patrick Keelery 2-43, Josh Bollinger 2-24, Evan McCrea 1-15, Austin Romanchak 1-31, Garrett Schaffhauser 1-5.