PHOENIX KNOCK OFF NO. 2 AVON

If Phoenix football wasn’t the talk of the town before, it certainly deserves to be in the conversation now. Competing in just their third game as a cooperative, the Freeman/Marion/Freeman Academy football team knocked off No. 2 Avon in Class 9AA action Friday night, Sept. 2. The Phoenix built a 22-0 halftime lead and hung on for 34-24 win on the road to improve to 3-0 on the season. The Pirates fell to 2-1.

F/M/FA was once again led by freshman quarterback Riley Tschetter, who for the third time in three games threw for three touchdowns — an 80-yard strike to Evan Scharberg, a 9-yard completion to Matt Hagen and a 7-yard pass to Maddox Kihne.

Kihne also returned an interception for a touchdown, ran for 10-yard score and caught six passes for 62 yards; Kihne finished with 138 all-purpose yards on offense. Sophomore Dominic Sperling tacked on 45 yards on 11 carries.

Ethan Balvin led Freeman’s defense with five solo tackles and he was in on nine others. Sperling, Hagen, Scharberg and Dom Grear each had four solo tackles.

The Phoenix built a 22-0 halftime lead and went up 28-8 in the third period before Avon climbed back to make it 28-22. But F/M/FA responded with a drive and touchdown in the fourth quarter that made it a two-possession game and the defense held the Pirates on their final drives to secure the win.

The Phoenix were more efficient of offense than the Pirates, finished with 259 yards on 44 plays; Avon tallied 316 yards on 72 plays. F/M/FA was penalized just three times for 20 yards while Avon was flagged eight times for 55 yards.

Freeman/Marion/Freeman Academy has its bye week next week before facing its toughest test yet — a Sept. 16 game at Howard, the No. 1 team in Class 9AA.