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Freeport runs past Summit Academy
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By Dave Yohe
Published: Friday, October 26, 2012, 11:46 p.m.
Updated: Tuesday, February 19, 2013
How do you make teammates who just clinched a share of a conference title look annoyed?
Have their parents make them pose for a group photo, when all they want to do is celebrate.
Freeport's celebration was briefly put on hold following a 47-0 romp over Summit Academy in an Allegheny Conference game Friday night at James Swartz Memorial Field.
“I'm just very proud of how hard the boys played all year. All 69 of them,” Freeport coach John Gaillot said. “They just came out and gave their best. That's all we could ask for.”
Freeport (7-2, 7-1) will share the conference title with Burrell (8-1, 7-1), but will get a higher seeding in the playoffs by virtue of their 26-7 win over the Bucs in Week 6.
“The seniors really wanted this game badly to be back-to-back conference co-champs,” Gaillot said.
The senior that led the charge for Freeport was quarterback Brendan Lynch.
Lynch shredded the Summit Academy (1-7, 2-7) defense, recording 122 yards and three touchdowns on six carries while playing less than three quarters.
His total put him over the 1,000-yard mark for the season.
“I wasn't really sure how much I had (going into the game),” Lynch said. “I just wanted to come out and run as hard as possible. After a couple runs, somebody came up to me and said I was pretty close to a thousand. They gave me one last run to get over.”
Lynch picked up 110 yards on four carries in the first half.
“I didn't have that set as a goal at the beginning of the year. I just wanted to do whatever I could to help my team” Lynch said. “Once Damon (Smith) went down, we really needed me to step up as a runner. I was able to gain a lot more yards in that span of time.”
Smith, a senior running back, suffered a season-ending knee injury during Freeport's win over Burrell.
Lynch also completed a pair of passes for 87 yards. One went for a touchdown: a second-quarter strike to senior tight end Tony DeVivo, covering 62 yards.
“He was a three-year starter. We took a lot of criticism for starting a sophomore,” Gaillot said. “But he played every game for us. I'm just very proud.”
Lynch also had a 55-yard punt return for a touchdown early in the first quarter.
The only two scores that Lynch didn't factor in on were also by the group of outgoing seniors.
Running back Mike Teorsky opened the scoring with a 29-yard run, and Dustin Koedel added a 2-yard run halfway through the second quarter.
Dave Yohe is a freelance writer.
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