KITTANNING — Freeport's one-two punch was just too much.

Brendan Lynch threw for two touchdowns and Damon Smith ran for two more on the way to a 26-0 lead before the Yellowjackets held on for a 32-21 victory Friday night in a season-opening Allegheny Conference tilt at Kittanning.

Smith picked up 47 of his game-high 138 rushing yards on the very first play from scrimmage.

“We just really wanted to come out and go as hard as we possibly could,” said Lynch. “We set the tone with a big run ... and from there on out, we just kept it going.”

“I'm really proud of the way the line came out on the first snap,” said Freeport coach John Gaillot. “I thought the boys really came out and played a complete game.”

The opening drive stalled at the Kittanning 7-yard line after a fumbled snap, but the Freeport defense didn't let the Wildcats gain any momentum.

Brian Welsh sacked Kittanning quarterback Kevin Barnes for a 7-yard loss on a third-and-12, forcing the Wildcats to punt from their own 9-yard line.

“He's a heck of a ballplayer,” said Kittanning coach Frank Fabian of Welsh. “We tried to do some different things to him with no success.”

The Yellowjackets took over in Kittanning territory and immediately stung.

On the first play of the drive, Lynch found Travis Hall behind the defense and delivered a strike for a 38-yard touchdown pass.

Kittanning had a golden opportunity to answer when the Wildcats took possession at the Freeport 19, but the Yellowjacket defense stepped up again.

Fred Pastoria intercepted Barnes on the first play and put an end to the threat.

“That was huge,” said Gaillot. “It took the wind out of their sails a little bit.”

Freeport controlled the line of scrimmage, especially in the first half, racking up 148 rushing yards on 21 carries while limiting the Wildcats to 20 yards on 12 rushes in the first two quarters.

The ground attack also opened up holes in the secondary and Lynch took advantage.

The senior quarterback connected with Tony DeVivo for a 19-yard score to make it 14-0, giving Lynch touchdowns on his first two passes of the year.

“All the passes that we threw were set up by the run,” Lynch explained. “They started bringing everybody into the box and then we had one-on-one coverage and we were able to slip people behind them. That was huge for us.”

Lynch did damage with his legs, as well.

On a fourth-and-6 at the Kittanning 24, Lynch slipped a couple of tackles and weaved his way through the defense for a 17-yard gain.

Smith scored from 7 yards out on the next play and gave the Yellowjackets a 20-0 halftime cushion. Smith padded the lead to 26-0 with a 29-yard touchdown run early in the third, before Josh Wisniewski picked off a Kittanning pass.

The Wildcats got on the scoreboard with a 2-yard run from Zac Croyle in the fourth, but Freeport had an answer in the form of Mike Teorsky.

The senior took the ensuing kickoff 70 yards for a touchdown to push the Yellowjackets' advantage back to 32-7.

However, Kittanning wouldn't go down quietly.

Barnes connected with Mitchell Pirhalla for a pair of touchdowns, cutting the deficit to 32-21 with 3:24 to play.

Freeport had its second-string offense in for a series, but summoned the starters for the final drive and put the game away.

“Overall, I'm very happy to see those guys fight back,” said Fabian. “We just dug too big of a hole early.”

Gaillot was also pleased with his team's performance.

“I'm just very proud of how hard the boys worked this past week and played in the game,” he said.

Freeport lost its first game the past two years and Smith didn't want to see it happen again.

“We just wanted to secure that victory,” he said. “It was nice getting that win to open the season and give us some confidence.”