Alex Isenberg throws the ball as he gets hit by Shady Side Academy Tim Geil during a section game on Saturday.

The Freeport football team had its chances.

But it watched them simply slip away.

The Yellowjackets slowed ShadySide Academy's vaunted offense for the better part of three quarters, but their offense fizzled in a 17-0 loss Saturday afternoon.

Roman Sandoval returned an interception 95 yards for a touchdown in the first quarter for Shady Side Academy.

It was the second turnover deep inside Indians' territory for Freeport (1-1, 1-1) in the first quarter alone.

Shady Side running back Brian Nickel rushed for 146 yards on 19 carries.

Sandoval also added a 3-yard touchdown run for the Indians (2-0, 2-0).

Grove City 35, East 20 — The Eagles balanced running game was too much for East.Grove City (2-0) rolled up 288 yards on the ground and held East to a mere 36 on the way to the non-conference victory.Dwayne Martin rushed for 87 yards and scored on a 4-yard run. The senior then hauled in a 54-yard scoring pass from freshman quarterback Tyler Dagres to put the Eagles up 14-0 at halftime.East (0-2) stayed in the game thanks to quarterback Corey Ratliff, who threw for 221 yards and two fourth-quarter scores.Grove City 35, East 20

Grove City 0 14 0 21—35East 0 0 0 20—20GC E17 First Downs 843-288 Rushes-Yards 14-36101 Passing Yards 2214-10-2 Passes (Comp.-Att.-Int.) 19-30-1389 Total Yards 2576-0 Fumbles/Lost 4-08-60 Penalties-Yards 9-93

Second QuarterGC — Dwayne Martin 4 run (Jason Ferderber kick)GC — Martin 54 pass from Tyler Dagres (Ferderber kick)

Fourth QuarterE — Dionn Amison 4 run (kick blocked)GC — Casey Shay 24 run (Ferderber kick)GC — Wesley Phipps 2 run (Ferderber kick)E — James Paul 8 pass from Corey Ratliff (pass failed)GC — Phil Schneider 9 run (Ferderber kick)E — Max Sanchez 8 pass from Ratliff (Ratliff run)

Individual Statistics

Passing: Grove City, Tyler Dagres 4-10-101-2. East, Corey Ratliff 19-30-221-1

Rushing: Grove City, Dwayne Martin 12-87, CaseyShay 15-82, Marty Phipps 8-78, Wesley Phipps 2-25, Doug Skelley 2-9, PhilSchneider 1-9, Tyler Dagres 2-(-2). East, Gary Brown 1-14, Dionn Amison 2-11, CoreyRatliff 10-6, Jermaine Gillespie 1-5

Receiving: Grove City, Jason Ferderber 2-33, Casey Shay 2-26, Dwayne Martin 1-54. East, James Paul 7-113, Max Sanchez 5-51, Derrick Allen 3-35, Shallel Glover 1-13, Alondre Hamilton 1-8, Dionn Amison 1-0, Willie Bolden 1-(-1)

Tim Frigot scored a goal midway through the first half and the Mars defense held for a 1-0 win over North Allegheny on Saturday.The win was the Planets' 26th straight at home, extending the school record.The last home loss for Mars came Sept. 8, 2005 in a 2-1 setback against Burrell.Mars hosts KittanningTuesday.<B>Slippery Rock 2, Hickory 1 </B>— Mike Ramirez scored both goals for the Rockets in this region victory.

Kristen McKenzie scored three goals as Mars routed Freedom 8-2.

Jacob Spurk placed 16th out of 147 runners to help the Slippery Rock High boys cross country team to a fifth-place finish at the West Middlesex Invitational Saturday.Owen Bowser (23rd), Jackson Udy (26th), Ryan Thompson (47th) and Luke Shaffer (54th) rounded out the top five for the Rockets.On the girls side, freshman Jessica Bennett finished 12th out of 147 runners to help the Rockets place sixth.Rachael Richter (24th), Nicki Fuchs (31st), Kayla Brendlinger (39th) and Susan Timko (63rd) were the top among the five placers for the Rockets.