Collins

FREEPORT — To say West Shamokin had trouble moving the ball against Freeport Friday night in its 48-7 loss is an understatement.

The Wolves didn't advance past the 50-yard line until the 10:53 mark in the fourth quarter as the Yellowjackets defense held the Wolves to 95 yards of total offense.

By the time West Shamokin scored with 2:18 remaining, the game was far out of reach.

"We treat every game like a playoff game," Freeport coach John Gaillot said. "We came out flat. The defense and special teams won this game."

Freeport's mistakes came early in the first quarter. After forcing the Wolves to punt, Tyler Collins returned the ball 56 yards for an apparent touchdown, but the play was negated by a running-into-the-kicker penalty.

That didn't stop Collins, however. After that punt was called back, he scored on a 66-yard punt return and a 60-yard pass from Alex Isenberg in the second quarter.

Collins' second touchdown gave the Yellowjackets a 29-0 lead.

"We put a lot of work into special teams," Gaillot said. "It's something we start working on a lot during camp, and it paid off."

The Freeport defense turned up the heat and Darius Frantz hit Wolves quarterback Jared Hollibaugh in the end zone, forcing a fumble that was recovered by Derek Durand.

Hollibaugh was held to six yards passing and completed only one of his seven attempts.

Freeport scored again on an Andrew Teorsky run to give it a 42-0 halftime lead.

After the Yellowjackets scored again in the third, the Wolves closed the scoring in the fourth quarter when Hollibaugh's 2-yard run notched the team's firsth touchdown in 2009.

"It's been a long season," West Shamokin coach Josh Gilliland said. "Scoring made it feel like we won the game. It was important because we are trying to get some confidence in the program so more kids will want to come out and play next year."

Next week, Freeport will be playing in the school's 500th win.

"We're not worried about that," Gaillot said. "We want to focus in and do the little things right. After next week we want to be 8-1."