By REID TUCKER
In the ongoing saga of Freeport versus Graceville football, a year makes a monumental difference.
Graceville very nearly bombed Freeport out of existence in their 2013 meeting, putting a huge 48-14 welt of a win on the visiting Bulldogs – itself a bit of vengeance for the three beatings Freeport laid on the Tigers in 2012. Things were different on the night of Sept. 26. Freeport got its own payback, starting a two-week winning streak by finishing off Graceville to the tune of 26-13, improving this season’s record to 3-2.
The difference between this year and last year was ball security and clock-control. Graceville won those battles walking away in 2013, but for 2014 the Bulldogs handled the ball with a touch of the old deftness on which the team prided itself in past seasons. Freeport fumbled the ball twice but only suffered one turnover to Graceville’s three, and the ‘Dogs dominated in the time of possession department: Freeport had the ball for more than 35 minutes to Graceville’s 12:45.
Freeport head coach Jim Anderson added another accomplishment to his team’s list of laurels, that being a much-improved effort from the defense. The Bulldogs’ d-line was crucial to limiting Graceville’s scoring opportunities on the ground, Anderson said. All told, Freeport held Graceville to just 50 rushing yards on the night.
“We got some stops on defense when we needed to and we pretty much kept moving the ball after that,” he said. “I’m proud of our guys. It was a great team effort and they played their hearts out.”
The Bulldogs proved their eagerness to play hard after Graceville pounced on a 7-0 lead just two plays into the game, as quarterback Preston Nichols (14-34, 292 yards) connected with Cameron McClain on a 76-yard touchdown strike. Freeport then ate up nearly half the remaining time in the first quarter on a 15-play drive from its own 39-yard line – a drive that saw the ‘Dogs face stiff resistance inside the 25 before finding themselves fourth-and-goal on the 2-yard line. Zach Seay dispelled the suspense, easily sailing into the end zone on a run, followed by the point after kick from Matthew Blair for a 7-all score that stood through the end of the period.
Freeport strung together another long drive into a field position on the 22-yard line just before the end of the first quarter, and that translated into the team’s only other score before halftime. Once more down close to the goal-line, the Bulldogs this time relied on one of their other main weapons of the night to get the TD. Quarterback Dillon Bates (14-for-26, 139 yards) hit Chris Decker (10 catches, 138 yards) on a 9-yard pass in the back-right corner of the end zone to put Freeport ahead 13-7 with 11:19 remaining in the half.
Despite all that time to work with, neither team could put together a score. Graceville either fumbled away its possession or went three-and-out, while Freeport came up short on 32-yard field goal attempt with 4:18 to go before the break.
If the Bulldogs had effectively managed time before the third quarter, then the third was when Freeport ground the clock under its boot-heel. After receiving the kick-off at the start of the period, the Bulldogs utterly devoured swaths of time off the game clock by running a grueling 17-play, 90-yard march downfield to set up an 11-yard scoring run from David Godwin. Blair put in the point after and the Bulldogs led 20-7 with 5:04 remaining in the quarter, and the defense forced Graceville to go for it on fourth down from the 23, but the Tigers couldn’t make it happen.
Graceville and Freeport each floundered a little at the start of the fourth quarter, with a few fruitless drives apiece ending in punts to the opposing side. That changed when Nichols completed a fantastic Hail Mary pass to Tyre Myrick, who scored from 59 yards out. However, the Freeport defense once again stepped up, this time blocking the Graceville point-after kick to make it a one-touchdown ballgame with 9:08 remaining in the contest.
On the very next possession, Seay made gave Freeport the two-touchdown lead it would hold onto for the win. Two penalties on the Tigers gave Freeport the ball at midfield, which Seay, Bates and resident big-guy running back Austin Vinson (12 carries, 69 yards) turned into a short drive down to the 17-yard line. Seay punched it in at the 7:09 mark for a 26-13 advantage which Graceville could not surmount.
Freeport’s next challenge is to travel to Baker this Friday to take on the Gators in the first District 1-A matchup of the 2014 season.
