By Bill Bray
FREMONT – After two weeks of not many bright spots for the Little Giants, things took a positive turn when sophomore quarterback Karson Kayden answered the call and helped to lead Fremont Ross to a 35-6 Homecoming victory over Lima Sr. at Don Paul Stadium.
With the Ross starting quarterback, Kaden Holmes, sitting out to rest a sore knee and ankle, his replacement, in his first start, impressed everyone in the stadium as he played with the poise of a seasoned veteran. Kayden sidestepped, ran past, and threw tight spirals as he ended his first start hitting on 19-34 passes for 294 yards and four touchdowns. “He’s a football kid,” coach Chad Long said of his young signal caller. “He has football knowledge. His dad Kyle played college football at West Virginia. We were very happy, and we are confident with Karson being there. He throws such a beautiful long ball, and he made some pretty good choices today on his throws and tucking and running when he needed to.” It should be added here that Kayden won a starting spot on the defensive unit as a freshman and has been at the linebacker position ever since.
The Little Giants continued in their two-week-old funk during the first half of play. Helped in large part by the penalty flags that were raining down on the Don Paul Stadium turf. There was a total of 24 penalties during the contest. Lima committed 13 for 125 yards while Ross had 11 for 105 yards.
The game’s scoring finally began during the second quarter of action. Kayden threw a perfect spiral to Bryson Hammer covering 20 yards at the 7:46 mark. Carter Rodriguez, back in uniform, after nursing a sore hip, nailed the extra point and Ross had a quick 7-0 lead. Hammer finished the contest catching eight passes for 133 yards.
Fremont’s second score happened just seconds after their initial touchdown. This time it was the ever-present Adam Hrynciw, from his defensive back position, intercepting a Jykel Cotton pass. Hrynciw broke free after the theft and galloped from about 30 yards out for the score. “Ciwey is Mr. Everything,” Long said. “He can play every position in the defensive secondary. He’s doing punt returns, he’s punting the ball, he’s kicking off and he also had his interception for a touchdown as well. Ciwey deserves it all, he never says boo and always just does what is best for the team. I have nothing but great respect for Ciwey and that is why he is a captain and a leader of our football team.”
One occurrence that was happening during the first half was that Lima’s second team All-Ohio defensive end, Anthony Mosley, was getting to Kayden not allowing him to have time in the pocket. The Giant’s staff made an adjustment at half time that put an end to the rush in the second half. Coach Long talked about the move that was made. “We moved Ty Ferguson, our left tackle, over to the right side and it made a huge difference as Ty was able to handle Mosley most of the second half. I was not at all surprised of the result because I feel Ty is one of the best offensive linemen in the conference.”
The second half was all Fremont Ross. After nursing a seven-point lead into the locker room at half, the Giants clicked off 22 second half points to run away with the win.
After great work by Fremont’s defensive unit for most of the quarter, Kayden flung a 30-yard TD pass to Hammer with just :53 left. The Giants decided to go for two extra points after two straight penalties on Lima during the conversion attempt. Kelandre Jones ran for the two points and Ross took a 21-6 lead.
Fremont grabbed six more points just 30 seconds later to put the game away. Who do you suppose was on the receiving end of this score? Yep, Hrynciw. A short nine-yard pass gave the senior captain his second score of the night. Rodriguez was good on the extra point and by the end of the 12 minutes Fremont was up 28-6.
The night cap came in the fourth quarter when Kayden found Elijah Simms for 16 yards touchdown strike. Rodriguez’s punch made it 35-6.
In a closing note, though sidelined, Fremont’s Kaden Holmes was all smiles during pregame homecoming festivities. Not only is he an All-Ohioan on the field, but he will also reign as king during the homecoming dance Saturday evening.
Next up, Toledo Central Catholic. GO GIANTS GO!!
Senior Bryson Hammer (#9) finds some running room durning a punt return.
Senior Ricky Howard (#23) looks for running room during third quarter action Friday night.
Fremont’s “Mr. Defense” Mason Villarreal makes one of his patented stops on the Lima ball carrier.
Sophomore Karson Kayden (#8) takes off for a run during second quarter action. Kayden, filling in for Ross starter Kaden Holmes, threw for 294 yards and four touchdowns during the Ross win.
Adam Hrynciw returns an interception for a Ross score to put the Giants up 13-0 as the first half was ticking away.
Fremont Ross 35, Lima Sr. 6
Toledo Central Catholic 46, Toledo Whitmer 16
Findlay 35, Oregon Clay 14
Toledo St. Johns 43, Toledo St. Francis 6