BUFFALO TWP — Legendary college football coach Bear Bryant coined the phrase, “Offense sells tickets, but defense wins championships”.

If that's the case, then Freeport fans have a lot to look forward to.

For the third time in four conference games, the Yellowjackets (5-1, 4-0) held their opponent to single digits, as they thoroughly dominated Apollo-Ridge on both sides of the ball in a 49-7 rout on Friday.

The victory sets up a first-place showdown with Seton-La Salle next week.

Both teams will enter next week's contest undefeated in conference play, with the winner having the inside track on the Allegheny Conference championship.

Freeport, which lost its last four games last season and missed out on a playoff spot, is trying to avoid that kind of collapse this season.

“Last year, we had a lot of freshmen and sophomores,” Freeport head coach John Gaillot said. “It was a longer season than they were used to. We still have a lot to prove, but I think we are in better shape this year to sustain our play.”

Even though the Yellowjackets scored 49 points Friday, it was the defense that stole the show. Freeport forced five turnovers (three interceptions and two fumbles) while limiting the Vikings to just 93 yards over the final three quarters, most of which came late when the outcome of the game was already decided.

“Our defense has done an excellent job this year,” Gaillot said. “Our defensive coaches keep things simple and the kids are buying into it and playing very hard.”

Apollo-Ridge (4-3, 2-3)dominated the first quarter, but came away with nothing to show for it. The Vikings ran 25 offensive plays in the period compared to just four for the Yellowjackets, but two big interceptions did in Apollo-Ridge.

The first one came on the tenth play of a drive when Austin Romanchak picked off Jake Fello's pass at the goal line. Freeport would fumble the ball right back to the Vikings, but three plays later, Conor Selinger stepped in front of a Fello pass at the 30-yard line and raced 70 yards to the end zone to give the Yellowjackets the lead, 7-0.

Freeport's offense got on track in the second quarter, scoring three times. Selinger scored his second touchdown of the game on a 5-yard run, and quarterback Romanchak added runs of 7 and 11 yards to give the Yellowjackets a 28-0 lead heading into halftime.

Romanchak was a jack-of-all-trades as he led the way for Freeport with 82 yards rushing, 82 yards passing, caught one pass for 26 yards, and had one interception for 42 yards.

“Romanchak has been amazing in some of the things he has done,” Gaillot said, “but he will be the first to tell you that without the other 10 guys, he can't do what he does.”

After gaining just four yards in the first quarter, Freeport ended the game with 328 yards of total offense to Apollo-Ridge's 180.

Jake Sarver led the receiving corp for the Yellowjackets with three catches for 40 yards. Sarver also kicked six extra points.

Apollo-Ridge 0 0 0 7 — 7

Freeport 7 21 14 7 — 49

First Quarter

F — Conor Selinger 70 interception return (Jacob Sarver kick), 4:01

Second Quarter

F — Selinger 5 run (Sarver kick), 7:17

F — Austin Romanchak 11 run (Sarver kick), 3:29

F — Romanchak 7 run (Sarver kick), :36

Third Quarter

F — Garret Schaffhauser 24 pass from Romanchak (Sarver kick), 10:31

F — Romanchak 11 run (Sarver kick), 8:13

Fourth Quarter

AR — Cade Grguric 59 run (Mayce Anthony kick), 5:18

F — Ricky Hunter 17 run (Ricky Hunter kick), 1:31

Individual Statistics

Rushing: Apollo-Ridge, Logan Harmon 3-24, Alex Gamble 12-47, Jake Fello 8-(-21), Cade Grguric 3-52, Keighton Reese 5-18. Freeport, Austin Romanchak 10-82, Conor Selinger 6-35, Jake Sarver 2-1, Ricky Hunter 6-59, Miles Troup 3-8, Gabe Brunck 5-35.

Passing: Apollo-Ridge, Jake Fello 7-19-60-3. Freeport, Austin Romanchak 6-8-82-0, Patrick Keeley 1-2-26-0.

Receiving: Apollo-Ridge, Klay Fitzroy 1-6, Keighton Reese 1-17, Alex Gamble 1-1, Brandon Kimmel 1-7, Cody Peace 1-3, Kyle Fitzroy 1-18, Cade Grguric 1-8. Freeport, Jake Sarver 3-40, Conor Selinger 1-6, Luke Kennedy 1-12, Garret Schaffhauser 1-24, Austin Romanchak 1-26.