FREMONT – The Little Giants wanted to make a statement Friday night.
Determined to not let a controversial ending to its season-opener derail its season, the Fremont Ross football team put itself back into the win column Friday night in emphatic fashion over Sylvania Southview, 49-21.
Andrew Born
“It’s a good feeling,” said Ross head coach Chad Long. “These kids didn’t give up and we’ve bene preaching that all week long. They were ready to go, they were prepared. They just wanted to come out and prove ‘We may have lost, but we’re not devastated.’ They came out and proved it tonight.”
No play proved more devastating for Southview than Andrew Born’s race to the house.
Following a Southview touchdown late in the third quarter, the junior took the ensuing kickoff from his own 3-yard line and took off for a 97-yard touchdown return. The score not only answered Southview’s touchdown from just 14 seconds before, it also gave the Little Giants momentum they’d never relinquish the rest of the night.
“He’s the fastest kid on the team,” Long said. ‘If he can get through that little bunch, he’s gone. As soon as he broke it down the sideline we knew he was gone and no one was going to catch him.”
Though Born gave Ross a 35-21 lead, the Little Giants weren’t done.
Ethan Chumley
Deryante Hardin
On Ross’ next possession, running back Ethan Chumley carried the ball seven times on the 13-play drive, picking up 62 yards, including the one-yard touchdown.
Southview’s next possession ended when Dontrez Brown blocked the Cougars’ punt and Carson Brandon recovered the ball setting Ross up on the 15-yard line. Two plays later, Chumley scored again, this time from 15 yards out.
Chumley finished with 80 yards on 11 carries while Deryante Hardin ran the ball 16 times for 122 yards. As a team, the Little Giants rushed for 307 yards.
“It feels amazing,” Chumley said. “I got to give credit to Deryante and the O line they all did amazing tonight and the line set the tone tonight, they really did.”
The Little Giants couldn’t have asked for a better start to the game. Noah Hotz took a sweep for 42 yards on the first play of the game which set up a 1-yard touchdown run by Garrett Schneider.
But Southview had an answer. The Cougars took their first possession 62 yards in 12 plays, converting three times on third- or fourth-down, capped by a 12-yard run Nick Harshamn to tie the game at 7.
“It wasn’t the best performance, they never should have scored 21 points, it’s that simple,” said senior linebacker Garrett Schneider. “We had to make some adjustments on the defensive side of the ball and we made a couple stops.”
Ben Mosser
Ross, however, put together a long drive of its own. The Little Giants put together a 9-play 80-yard drive ended by Hayden Lehmann throwing a strike to Ben Mosser in the end zone 32 yards away.
Ross extended its lead in the second quarter when Hardin took a handoff up the middle, cut back to the sideline and took off to the races on a 49-yard touchdown to put Ross ahead 21-7.
The Cougars, however, answered before halftime. Southview punched into the end zone from two yards out on a quarterback sneak by Brayton Schmidt.
While the Cougars had two long scoring drives, they had little to show for their remaining four possession, in which they combined for just 27 yards and one first down. The Little Giant defense was either unmovable or could not get a stop in the first half with no in-between.
The second half, however, was a different story. The Little Giants held Southview to just 102 yards in the after halftime, 62 of which came on the Cougars’ only touchdown of the half.
Early in the third quarter, Ross’ first possession of the second half ended in a Noah Hotz punt. Southview lost control of the punt and Bryce McKinstry recovered the loose ball, setting Ross up deep in Cougars’ territory.
On fourth-down and goal from the 10-yard line, Lehmann connected with McKinstry on a slant route in the end zone for the score and a 28-14 lead.
Lehmann finished the night 9-of-22 passing for 106 yards.
SCORING SUMMARY
S| 7 — 7 — 7 — 0 — 21
FR| 14 — 7 — 14 — 14 — 49
First quarter
FR – Garrett Schneider 1 run (Alec Slemmer kick), 9:43
S – Nick Harshman 12 run (Nikko Blackmar kick), 7:19
FR – Ben Mosser 32 pass from Hayden Lehmann (Slemmer kick), 4:16
Second quarter
FR – Deryante Hardin 49 run (Slemmer kick), 2:30
S – Brayton Schmidt 2 run (Blackmar kick), 0:46
Third quarter
FR – Bryce McKinstry 10 pass from Lehmann (Slemmer kick), 4:04
S – Harshman 62 pass from Schmidt (Blackmar kick), 1:42
FR – Andrew Born 97 kick return (Slemmer kick), 1:28
Fourth quarter
FR – Ethan Chumley 1 run (Slemmer kick), 7:24
FR – Chumley 15 run (Slemmer kick), 5:40
INDIVIDUAL OFFENSIVE STATS
RUSHING — FR, Deryante Hardin 16-122; Ethan Chumley 11-80; Noah Hotz 3-48; Tridarrion Taylor 2-24; Hayden Lehmann 4-21; Spencer Price 4-4; Garrett Schneider 2-2. Totals, 44-307.
PASSING – FR, Hayden Lehmann, 9-22, 106, 2-0.
RECEIVING – FR, Ben Mosser, 1-32; Noah Hotz 2-27; Spencer Price 2-20; Deryante Hardin 2-15; Bryce McKinstry 1-10; Raleigh Weaver 1-2. Totals, 9-106.
| ROSS | S’VIEW | |
| Tot. Yards | 413 | 234 |
| Rush-Yards | 44-307 | 27-67 |
| Comp. – Att. | 9-22 | 18-29 |
| Pass Yards | 106 | 167 |
| TD – INT | 2-0 | 1-0 |
| Fumbles-Lost | 0-0 | 1-1 |
| Pen. -Yards | 8-60 | 4-35 |